So Just Fall In Love With Me This Christmas
by I've-Gotta-Be-Me
Summary: "Faithful penpals kept away by circumstance - only words to sustain them. Destined to meet one day and fall madly and passionately in love." So reads Kurt and Blaine's unlikely friendship that has more than one hiccup along the road to happiness.
1. Christmas Surprises

_Dear Kurt,_

_ Here's a blast from the past for you. The first letter you ever wrote me goes a little something like this: "Hi, Blaine. How are you? My mom made me a really great sandwich today for lunch. I can't wait to eat it. It's going to taste so good. Do they have sandwiches where you're from in Pennsylvania? I had to ask my teacher how to spell that because it's long. Ohio is much easier to spell, so you should move here instead. Anyways, I hope you have sandwiches. Bye!" Signed 'Kurt'. Of course, it's riddled with spelling mistakes but I've kept it anyways. Just like all of the letters you've ever sent me. I hope you're well – your favorite time of the year is coming up. Any big plans?_

_ I'll be seeing you,_

_ Blaine_

* * *

><p><em>Dear Blaine,<em>

_ Wow, way to bring back some memories. Can you believe it's been fifteen years since I sent that letter – almost to the day? We've been friends longer than most people have been married nowadays. Thankfully, my spelling seems to have improved since the fifth grade. I mean, I used to write my 'r's backwards for crying out loud. I guess we're just lucky that our teachers forced us to write a pen pal, huh? Yeah, Christmas is right around the corner and unfortunately I'm stuck where I always am: writing obituaries for one of the biggest papers in New York. No one said it was going to be glamorous being a journalist just starting off, but I pictured my career a little less…dead. What about the company? How's that working out for you? I know it was your dream as a kid, so I'm insanely happy that you got the job! First step Tot's Toys, next step the world._

_ I'll be seeing you,_

_ Kurt_

* * *

><p><em>Dear Kurt,<em>

_ I'm living the dream, I tell you! When I graduated from Penn State, I was so worried that I wouldn't have a job waiting for me – what with the economy and all. But if my father has ever done anything good for me in this lifetime, it was when he introduced me to Mr. Richardson. He and I got along great from the moment we met and he thought I was qualified for a decent job here at the company. So here I am, working my way up. It might sound dull to a journalist, but I'm the head of marketing and publicity. Someday, I want to manufacture my own toy. Seriously, that's my biggest dream and I'm one step closer to it becoming a reality. I'm sorry to hear that writing obituaries isn't exactly lively, but I'm sure if you show loyalty to your section, your boss will be bound to promote you soon. Just don't work too hard or you'll work yourself to death! Then who'll write the obituaries?_

_ I'll be seeing you,_

_ Blaine_

* * *

><p>"Hummel!" came the sharp call that pulled Kurt out of his daydream.<p>

He shut his laptop quickly, not even bothering to click out of the email from Blaine he'd just been reading for fear that someone had caught him off duty. He looked around and saw no one immediately bearing down on his desk.

"_Hummel._ Would you get in here?" his boss called from his office at the end of the hall.

Kurt scrambled out of his chair so quickly that he sent it rolling backwards. But he didn't care; he hastened past the other reporters' cubicles to Mr. Graham's office.

"Yes, sir," he said, standing in the doorway of the office.

"Well, don't just stand there. Come in and have a seat," Mr. Graham said, beckoning to an open chair in front of his desk.

Kurt sat down, still extremely nervous as he smoothed down some stray wrinkles in his slacks.

"What can I do for you, sir?" he asked politely.

"How goes the obituary column?" his boss asked conversationally.

Kurt clasped his hands together, trying to think of an honest answer that wouldn't get him fired. "They're a little…dead, sir. But I love every minute of writing for this paper, no matter what it is."

"Loyal to the end," Mr. Graham noted, looking up from his computer. "I like that about you, Hummel. You never complain. You never ask for a raise or a promotion. You do your job and you do it well. Reminds me why we hired you in the first place."

"Oh, well it's an honor, sir."

"Let's cut the pleasantries now," his boss said, swiveling his chair to face Kurt. "You write and you write better than half the staff here. You want a break from the obituaries – don't bother deny it with your feel-good diplomatic responses." He gave Kurt a serious look. "I have a piece for you."

"A piece?" Kurt asked in disbelief. "An _actua_l piece? With living people who are doing something newsworthy right now?"

"Yes, do you want it or not?"

"I'll take it!" he exclaimed with maybe just a tad too much enthusiasm. He cleared his throat awkwardly. "I mean, of course I'll take it, sir."

"Fantastic," his boss replied. He rifled through a few papers on his desk, grabbing the right file folder at last. "Now, it's nothing _too_ exciting. There's a huge toy conference here in New York starting after the weekend and lasting all the way through the next. Find me something to report on – something _Christmassy_. Christmas, toys, you make the connection and do the math. We have readers who - "

"Eat that holiday crap right up," Kurt finished for him, still teeming with excitement.

"Don't get too excited. Chances are it might bore you out of your mind, but just spin some story – any story."

Kurt was already flipping through the file folder, reading off the names of all the guests in attendance and their corresponding companies. There was the address for the venue, the time and date, press passes, the whole nine yards. He was about to close the folder again when his heart stopped.

"Sir…if you don't mind me asking," he started, his throat running dry, "Is this…the final, c_onfirmed_ guest list?"

"It is. All the biggest toy companies throughout the nation will be there." He looked up from his desk to see Kurt frozen in his seat. "Is there something _wrong_, Hummel?"

"Um, I don't think I can do this," Kurt said quickly, practically throwing the file folder back on Mr. Graham's desk. "I'm the wrong person for the job." He felt like he was going to be sick. "Just get somebody else. I can't do it."

"If you're sure…" Mr. Graham said, looking at him strangely. "But keep in mind if you pass up this opportunity, I might not throw another one your way for quite some time – maybe years. But no matter. Bailey!" he called out his door.

"No, wait!" Kurt said. "I'll take it," he decided, snatching the folder back up. "I won't let you down."

"That's what I expect of you," Mr. Graham said, returning back to his business. "Do me a favor and close the door as you leave."

Kurt stood up and raced out of the office, doubling back to close the door he'd forgotten. He sat down at his desk and opened his laptop, redirecting himself to his inbox.

He had an email to send.

* * *

><p>Blaine was doing a million things at once. He had his hands full with various toys that hadn't made it out of testing yet, one hand jammed into a baseball mitten and the other clutching several prototypes. He had a pen in his mouth and another one stuck behind his ear as he wandered around his office, attempting to organize himself.<p>

He heard the sound of an incoming email from his desk, so he gave up trying to juggle everything in his arms and plopped down in his chair. With one move of his mouse, he opened up the email alert at the bottom right hand corner of his screen – which was no small feat, seeing how he was using his gloved hand. Still using that hand, he used the edge of the glove to click it open.

There was a clatter as everything he was holding fell to the floor.

The prototype for the newest Nerf football rolled clear across the room and a head popped off of one of the action figures inspired by the latest action blockbuster. The rest of they toys scattered in every direction. If his office hadn't been a mess before, it certainly was after that.

"He _knows?_" he muttered to himself. "He knows about the conference? How is that…_possible_?"

He stood up and covered his face with his hands, spinning on the spot in frustration as he looked back at the email still on his screen. Part of him was desperately hoping it would go away - that it was a hallucination of some sort. But, of course, it didn't. Kurt's name in the signature blared up at him.

"That's it, I can't go," he decided with an exasperated shrug. "I can't go. Okay so, '_Mr. Richardson, I can't accompany you to New York_.' No, no. '_Mr. Richardson, something urgent has come up and I can't_…' That sounds stupid. '_Mr. Richardson, for reasons I had not foreseen, I won't be able to fly up to New York_…'"

"Anderson," a gruff voice greeted him from his office door.

Blaine spun around, a hand still in his hair. "Mr. Richardson!" he exclaimed. "I was _just_ going to come and find you."

"What a coincidence, I was just coming to find you," his boss joked.

Blaine laughed uneasily. "You had something to tell me, sir?"

"Oh, just how much I appreciate the fact that you'll be coming to New York with me. You're my most trusted employee, Anderson. I know you've really got what it takes."

"Thank you, sir, but I - "

"And how huge of an opportunity this is for your career. Not to mention the fact that I'm going to need you to help me out next week."

"And I'm _flattered_, sir, but – "

"You know, this conference will be huge for the company. It's one of the first times we're attending such a public venue and head-to-head with all those other toy companies – retailers and manufacturers alike. I need you there. Plus, there's that whole thing with Alexa…"

"The head of Toys 4 All?" Blaine asked, recalling the name vaguely.

"Yes," Mr. Richardson answered, tucking his hands into his pockets as he sat on the edge of Blaine's desk. "She and I…we're together. And I need you there to make sure no one gets a whiff of it. It'll be our first public event together and we should try and keep it professional at all times." He took a step closer. "That's where you come in, Blaine."

Blaine nodded, biting back his previously rehearsed words against his better judgment. "Don't worry about a thing," he found himself saying. "I'll take care of it. I'll be there."

"You're the best, Anderson," Mr. Richardson said before exiting Blaine's office. "Remind me to give you a raise someday," he joked.

"I am so screwed," Blaine said to himself as he sank back into his chair. "I need a vacation."

* * *

><p>"Remind me <em>again<em> why I'm here?" Jeff asked as he fiddled with his iPod on the flight to New York.

"Because you're my best friend," Blaine recited. "And I'm so nice that I paid for your ticket to New York."

"Oh, I'm your best friend?" Jeff asked, feigning surprise. "I thought that honor was reserved for your on-paper lover boy, Kurt." He clutched his heart and batted his eyelashes as he imitated Blaine. "_Oh, Kurt. How I love you so_."

"Shut up," Blaine told him. "I don't love him. We're just pen pals."

"Yeah, okay," Jeff said as if he didn't believe him at all. "Once you get past the denial stage, you can come talk to me again."

Blaine watched as the blonde leaned over him and gave a quick wink to a group of girls sitting across the way. They were all talking behind their hands and giving him appraising looks.

"Do you maybe want to switch seats?" Blaine asked flatly.

Jeff shook his head. "Nah, I'm just scoping out all the potentials nearby," he explained as he gave a dark-haired guy a lingering glace as he bit his lip.

"You embarrass me," Blaine continued in his monotone.

* * *

><p>"You embarrass me," Nick groaned.<p>

He and Kurt were sitting across from one another at his kitchen table, digging into an ambitious beef dish Nick had attempted to prepare.

"_I_ embarrass _you_?" Kurt shot back. "You embarrass _me_ with your lack of cooking skills. You've been living on your own since we met at NYU and you_ still_ can't make yourself a meal seven years later."

"I can _so_," Nick protested. "I'm getting better at least. I'm taking cooking classes now," he announced proudly. "Remember, I told you about them last week?"

"If you are, you sure can't tell," Kurt teased, making a face as he scooped up another bite of whatever was on his dish.

Experience taught him that whenever Nick invited him down the hall to his apartment he should have his own meal prepared back in his own.

"My teacher encourages us to _experiment_," Nick said.

Kurt put his napkin to his mouth an spat out his mouthful. "Are those…chocolate sprinkles?" he asked in horror.

"He also says to use whatever's in our spice cabinets!" Nick defended himself.

Kurt walked over to the sink and dumped his plate in. "Within _reason_."

"I'll make it up to you," Nick promised quickly. "Dinner tomorrow's on me. What do you say?"

"I'd love to, but I can't."

Nick gasped so sharply that Kurt had to turn around to make sure he wasn't choking.

"Do you…_have a date?_" Nick asked, excitement shining in his eyes.

Kurt gave his friend an incredulous look. "_No_, I don't have a date. But thank you for being so shocked at the prospect of me actually having one."

"I'm sorry," Nick shrugged. "You just never have plans. And you never so much as look at other men when we're out and about. It's always Blaine, it's always been about _Blaine_," he said, waving his hands in the air theatrically.

"That's not true," Kurt retorted. "I'm painfully available, it's just that no one's good enough."

"You mean no one's better than your mystery lover," Nick goaded.

"He's not a mystery and he's not my lover," Kurt replied coolly.

Nick snorted into his wine glass. "Yet."

"What was that?" Kurt asked.

"Nothing," Nick said. "I didn't say anything."

"I'm so flattered that you didn't even bother to ask why I'm going to be busy tomorrow," Kurt pointed out.

"Right, sorry. What've you got going on tomorrow that's _not_ a hot date?"

"I got…an assignment," Kurt confessed.

"A story?" Nick said, in as much disbelief as Kurt had been when he found out. "A real story? An actual story? An assignment?"

"Yes, yes, yes, and yes," Kurt said, not bothering to hide his grin.

"Kurt, that's great! This means you'll get that promotion you always wanted and you'll be a real hard-hitting reporter. People are going to live for your by-lines, I can just see it now," Nick gushed.

"Now let's not get ahead of ourselves," Kurt told him as he took his seat at the table again. "It's just one, small story. It might be a disaster, in fact," he said as he remembered the one snag in his bliss.

"What's wrong?" Nick asked. There was confusion plain on his face. "This is what you've always wanted. What could possibly be wrong?"

"Blaine," Kurt said softly. He fought the urge to down the entire contents of his wine glass just thinking about it. "Blaine's going to be there."

"Blaine?" Nick asked, choking on his own wine. "_Blaine_? _Your _Blaine?"

"My Blaine," Kurt nodded.

* * *

><p>"How do you <em>do<em> it?" Blaine finally asked.

Jeff sat back in his seat and flicked his hair out of his eyes, causing a collective swoon from the girls across the way as well as a few males.

"Pray tell what you're talking about."

"The ladies," Blaine sighed. "The _men_. You just attract everyone."

"Truth be told, I prefer men. But it's easier to catch a woman's attention." He gave the girls another wink as he snapped his fingers in their general direction. "Actually I'm all for whichever sex will give me a lasting relationship. But don't let them know that – it takes all the fun out of it."

Blaine shook his head. "How do you flirt?"

"Oh, no. No, no no - don't even think about it," Jeff told him. "I am _not _teaching you how to flirt. One doesn't _learn_ how to flirt, one just…does."

"You make it look so _easy_ though," Blaine complained.

"That's because I'm an _actor_."

Blaine sniggered, getting himself a glare from Jeff. "What, you did _one_ commercial," he told his friend. "And it was a commercial for athlete's foot medication."

"Shh…" Jeff shushed him. "It was a good commercial. I got to play the role of a super hot, athletic male. There's nothing sexier than that. I even got to go shirtless."

"Yeah, it's all good and sexy until they get around to the part where your feet supposed to be smelly and fungus-filled."

"Gross, don't say that," Jeff said, cringing. "I do _not_ have athlete's foot in real life."

"Whatever. That's not the point. The point is that you are like…walking sex."

"Blaine, I didn't know you felt that way about me," Jeff said dramatically. He put the back of his hand to his forehead as if he were swooning. "If only you'd told me sooner, maybe we could've been…"

"Stop it," Blaine hissed, pushing Jeff away from him. "I just meant you know how to talk with the men. And the ladies," he added. "But I'm more concerned with the former."

"Why? Do you plan on picking up a lot of dudes in New York? Because if so, that could prove problematic since you and I are sharing a hotel room. I mean, things could get awkward…or kinky," he thought aloud.

"No," Blaine told him. "I mean, whenever I see guys that I'm interested in, I get all nervous and start talking about lame things. I start telling them about books they should read or websites they need to visit, songs they need to download. Once, I was trying to chat up this guy and I started talking about the pros and cons of eating two hours before you go to sleep." He cringed at the mere memory. "It was horrible. I even mentioned _sleep apnea_, Jeff."

"You're never worried about flirting when you write to Kurt," Jeff pointed out.

Blaine shrugged. "That's different. I've known Kurt since we were kids. And we don't flirt – we _converse_."

"Mmhmm, sure," Jeff said, rolling his eyes as he did so.

"Just forget it," Blaine told him. "Forget I even asked. I just need to focus on this business trip."

"My thoughts exactly," Jeff replied. "This is huge for you. For the company. It's what you've always wanted. Ever since we met at Dalton you've hardly shut up about it," he joked.

Blaine recalled his parents allowing him to attend a private school out-of-state for the remainder of his high school years. It was where he met his life-long friends like Jeff.

"Not to mention your beloved_ Kurt_," Jeff said in a suggestive tone, elbowing Blaine in the ribs as he did so.

Blaine felt himself turning red. "Kurt is my friend."

"So you write love letters to _all_ your friends?" Jeff asked. "Because if you do, I'm feeling awfully left out over here."

"They're not love letters."

"They're love letters," Jeff said. "You even made that stupid pact not to call one another or to webchat."

"Hey, that's not a stupid pact. We've already relented to allow emails now and then. We don't want the - "

" - authenticity of your friendship soiled. You still want to feel like pen pals," Jeff recited in a bored voice. "Yeah, yeah. We know."

"It's a good pact," Blaine mumbled. He wrung his hands nervously. "Jeff, I have a confession…"

"Oh this is going to be good," the blonde said as he sat up a bit straighter in his seat.

"I think I m-might…have feelings f-for Kurt," Blaine stammered.

"Finally!" Jeff exclaimed, attracting the attention of the other passengers around them. "It was _killing_ me, man. I thought you would never admit it." He patted Blaine's shoulder. "Finally some truth."

* * *

><p>"He's got it <em>bad<em> for you," Nick said.

He'd ordered Kurt to go back to his apartment and bring over the box of letters he kept stashed under his bed. They were rifling through them now. The letters ranged from fifth grade to just weeks prior.

"He does not," Kurt hissed. "No where in any of these letters does he confess his undying like for me."

"He doesn't have to," Nick scoffed. "Have you _read _these? Only you could overlook something so freaking obvious."

"You must be reading something completely different, because none of these lead me to that conclusion."

Nick scanned the page in front of him before pointing to a specific line. "Here, read this. Starting there."

Kurt took a deep breath and read aloud. "He writes, '_Kurt, it's so nice to hear from you._'" Kurt put down the letter, his eyes wide. "Oh my gosh, Nick, you are _so_ right. Look, he's practically proposing right there. And to think, all these years I've been blind!"

"Keep reading," Nick said, unamused by Kurt's theatrics.

"He also says, 'I'm thrilled to hear you're doing so well. It sounds like things are good for both of us right now. That's a blessing.'" Kurt lowered the letter again. "I have to admit, Nick. I'm not seeing it."

"He's been writing you for years and years, Kurt," Nick said. "Doesn't that mean anything to you?"

"It means I've coveted a long-lasting friendship," Kurt sniffed.

"What about this signature: '_I'll be seeing you_'. What's that about?"

"I don't know, that's something we made up when we were in high school. We figured one day – we didn't know how or when, but someday – we'd meet. So we always signed off 'I'll be seeing you'. It's more of a bad habit now…"

"What about you? You have feelings for Blaine – don't shake your head at me. All you do is talk about him. How you wish he was here, how you can't wait for his next letter. Remember when he emailed you for the first time and you called me while I was in class just to ask me if I thought you should open the damn email or not?"

"No, I don't recall," Kurt replied.

"You're going to meet him," Nick told him resolutely. "There's nothing you can say about it. I won't let you back out of this."

Kurt shook his head profusely. "No, no way. I'm going to avoid him at all costs. Look, maybe it's better to leave things to the imagination."

"It's never better to leave things to the imagination," Nick said. "In any situation, in fact."

"It's like…" Kurt searched for an explanation. He snapped his fingers when it came to him. "It's like the Wizard of Oz. You know, that moment when Dorothy's gone through all this trouble to see the wizard and she finds out he's just this ordinary man pulling some levers?" He shrugged. "What if that's me? What if I'm just an ordinary guy with a pen? What if I'm just a loser who knows how to spin words? What if I'm disappointing to him?"

"If he thinks you're disappointing, then you leave him to me and I'll go kick his ass," Nick said simply. "Easy."

"I'm serious," Kurt groaned. "Maybe I'm not what he's built me up to be. Friends or more."

"There's nothing wrong with you," Nick told his friend. "You're almost annoyingly perfect. Look, if this guy's been writing to you for so many years then you're already halfway there. He must give a crap about you or he'd have stopped writing years ago."

"There's a bigger problem," Kurt said quietly. "You see, when I say I might not be what he's imagined me to be…there's a reason for that."

"What?" Nick asked.

Kurt looked down at the table in front of him, afraid to meet Nick's eyes. "I might've led him to believe…He might think I'm…you."

"_What?_" Nick repeated in a louder voice.

Kurt covered his face and laid his head down on the table. "I _might_ have been sending Blaine pictures of you all these years," he said quickly. "Maybe."

"You. _What?_" Nick said through gritted teeth.

"Don't hate me, I panicked," Kurt wailed. "In college – when it came time to send each other pictures, I just couldn't bring myself to do it. Then he sent me his picture and he was so, _so_ handsome. So I freaked out and sent him a picture of you."

"Of me?" Nick repeated. "What in the _world_ made you think that was a good idea?"

"You always photographed better than me."

"Bullshit," Nick shot back. "You always take better pictures. People have asked you to _model_ in the past."

"Yeah, well they were blind," Kurt retorted. "Or high."

"I can't believe you," Nick ranted. "This is your problem, Kurt. You have some serious self-esteem issues. You don't see yourself very clearly, do you? So what, now this Blaine dude thinks he's having a go at me? Yeah, in his dreams maybe."

"That's kind of the thing…"

"Oh no," Nick said, pounding his hand on the table as he stood up. "No, Kurt. NO. Don't look at me like that."

"Like what?" Kurt asked innocently.

"Like you're about to ask me a favor. Don't do it, Kurt. I will _not_, under _any_ circumstances pretend to be you."

"Just one date," Kurt pleaded. "I mean, _meeting_," he corrected himself. "Please, please, please, Nick? Just go meet him before the conference tomorrow and…"

"No, stop right there!" Nick yelled. "This is not happening. I'm not doing it."

"What do I have to do so that you'll go?" Kurt begged. "I'll do your laundry for a month. I'll pay your _rent_ for a month. I'll eat your cooking without complaint."

That stopped Nick. "Every night? No whining whatsoever?"

"I'll ask you for _seconds_," Kurt added for good measure. "Maybe thirds. I'll take home the leftovers."

"No," Nick replied.

"_Nick_," Kurt said with a pout. "I just said I'd eat your _cooking_. Please."

"Not happening."

"But he'll love you," Kurt told his friend. "You'll look great. You'll be your completely charming self and win him over. You'll use your great sense of humor and your killer smile…"

"I _am_ quite charming," Nick allowed.

"You are," Kurt agreed quickly. "So what do you think? Will you do it?"

* * *

><p>"I have to tell him," Blaine muttered to himself from his hotel bed. He could hear the sound of Jeff's soft snores from the other bed. "I just…I have to tell him. I don't have a choice."<p>

He braced himself and threw his covers off. He padded across the room to Jeff's bed until he was standing at his friend's bedside.

"Jeff," he whispered.

Jeff merely rolled over.

"_Jeff_," Blaine repeated louder.

"We don't have to tell your boyfriend," Jeff muttered in his sleep.

Blaine hopped onto the bed and started jumping up and down on the mattress.

"Jeff. Wake. Up!" he exclaimed with each jump.

"Whoa, whoa, I didn't know he was taken!" Jeff exclaimed in half-asleep horror. He rubbed his eyes and looked up at Blaine. "What the hell are you doing?"

Blaine sat down on the other side of Jeff's mattress. "I have to tell you something."

"And it couldn't wait until morning?" Jeff snapped back.

"No, it couldn't," Blaine said. He took a deep breath. "Look...There's a reason why I brought you on this trip – besides the fact that I enjoy your company."

"What is it?" Jeff groaned. "Are you nervous about meeting Kurt tomorrow?" he guessed. "Listen, it's going to be fine. He's going to love you. Hey, if he hasn't told you to go take a hike yet, that means the odds are good."

"Kurt won't be meeting me," Blaine confessed. "He'll be meeting…you."

"No, no, I think you're a little confused," Jeff said. "_You're_ the one who's been sending this guy love letters for the past fifteen years. Not me. He doesn't even know me."

"He thinks I'm you," Blaine blurted out. "I've been sending him your school photos, Jeff. I've been doing it for years."

"Years?" Jeff repeated.

"Since college."

"Are you…" Jeff sat up quickly. "Are you _drunk?_ Or are you really just that big of an idiot?"

"I was scared," Blaine defended himself. "I was this awkward, geeky loser with wild, curly hair and you were so…not. You always had all the girlfriends, all the boyfriends. Everyone wanted to be with you! I didn't think Kurt and I would ever actually meet," he confessed. "I mean, with our professions and where we live…it just seemed unlikely that we would ever cross paths, so I sent him your pictures."

"But we're here _now_ and he's still expecting me!" Jeff shouted.

"Yeah…about that…"

"You'll just have to come clean, Blaine," Jeff argued. "You're going to go meet him tomorrow and say 'Hey, it's really me. All those pictures I've been sending you? That was all a joke.' Then, bam, the problem's solved. Okay? Okay."

He laid back down in bed and pulled his sheets up over his head.

"I can't," Blaine said softly.

"Grow some balls and just do it," Jeff huffed.

"One date. An hour – two max." Blaine clasped his hands together as if in prayer. "It doesn't even have to be considered a date. Please, Jeff. I'm begging you."

"Not a chance."

* * *

><p><em>AN: Anyone ever see 'Christmas in Boston'? It's one of my all-time favorite Christmas movies and the obvious inspiration for this crossover of sorts (Mostly because Patrick J Adams is one of my favorite individuals ever). If you haven't seen it, don't worry because this is going to be A LOT of fun._

**_Reviews are totally appreciated!_**


	2. First Impressions

Blaine was walking towards the convention center when his phone began ringing loudly from his pocket. He stopped to pull it out and groaned when he saw Jeff's name lit up on the screen.

"_What?_" was his greeting.

"Yeah, just a quick question," Jeff said. "_Why am I here?_"

Blaine had to hold the phone away from his ear, Jeff was so loud. "Because you're my best friend, you're awesome, and you're doing me a solid."

"Those are shitty answers," Jeff grumbled.

"If you behave, I'll throw in an extra fifty bucks."

"Fifty bucks?" Jeff scoffed. "I couldn't take my grandmother out to dinner on fifty bucks.

"Take it or leave it," Blaine said, eyeing the doors to the building behind him.

"This is stupid. I'm leaving. This is me _leaving_," Jeff told him.

"No wait!" Blaine said into the phone. "You're an actor, right? So act!"

"I'm not an actor," Jeff groaned. "I did _one_ commercial that no one will remember me for. I haven't had a casting call in months."

"So technically this is your second gig," Blaine told him brightly. "I'm giving you your second gig, man."

"I guess that is kind of true," Jeff mused. "I guess could see it that way."

"Just _embrace_ your character," Blaine instructed him. "Really go for it and be charming. He is going to love you."

"Embrace my character," Jeff chanted. "Yeah, I can do that. I mean, how hard is it to be you? This is going to be easy."

"Knock 'em dead," Blaine said. He clicked the 'end' button on his phone and dropped it back in his pocket.

"Kurt is going to think I am _such_ a moron," he groaned before disappearing through the doors.

* * *

><p>Kurt straightened his scarf for the tenth time since he'd set foot in the convention center. He was a bundle of nerves. He didn't want to look out of place, but he had no one to talk to and, oh <em>what was he thinking<em> when he decided to become a reporter? On top of the stress from his job, he was internally having a panic attack related to Nick and the coveted meeting with Blaine that was supposed to take place any minute now.

He looked around the convention center, wondering where to start when someone bumped into him from behind.

"Whoa, watch where you're going," Kurt said reflexively, spinning around to see who had shoved into him.

Before him stood a man with dark, curly hair. Oh sure, he'd tried to gel it down a bit, but the ends still curled just behind his ears. The second thing Kurt noticed was that his eyes were the lightest possible shade of brown. He would've said hazel or the color of honey, but neither seemed to describe them. He was dressed in a suit and he looked as if he were in a hurry.

Kurt snapped back to reality and glared at the man.

"Oh, s-sorry," the man stuttered. "I wasn't looking where I was going and I'm late…" He looked over his shoulder towards the forming crowd on the opposite side of the room. "I have to go. Sorry again."

Kurt watched as he hurried off to talk to an important-looking business man. His boss, Kurt presumed.

Kurt looked around and decided to follow the mystery man. The closer he got, the more he recognized the man he was speaking to as the head of Tot's Toys. He hesitated for a moment, remembering Blaine, but relaxed again when he reminded himself that Blaine was out waiting to meet Nick. Meet _him_. Or whatever.

He watched as the business man walked away – straight towards a woman. A woman anyone who was anyone knew was the head of the rival toy company. Kurt smirked to himself as he watched them flirting unsubtly. She had her arm on his and was giving him a _very_ suggestive look.

His thought process was interrupted when a phone rang shrilly from somewhere nearby. Kurt watched in amusement as it seemed to belong to his rude stranger. The man answered it, looking distressed.

"What else do you want?" he hissed into the phone. He looked taken aback. "Oh, Sanders. Oh, it's you. I'm so sorry I thought it was someone else."

Kurt moved closer until he was practically hovering right behind the man. He turned his ear closer, hoping to catch some good information.

"No, I'm sorry. I was just expecting another call. I should've checked the caller ID," the man admitted. "No, don't worry about a thing. I have the, uh, '_situation_' under control," he continued conspiratorially. "They're grown adults, Sanders. I doubt they're going to start groping in public. Just let me take care of it. Yeah, bye."

The man spun around – right into Kurt.

"You again?" he asked Kurt. "Can I help you?"

"Yes, you can," Kurt replied smoothly. "Those two," he gestured to the man and woman chatting nearby. "Aren't they arch rivals? Two presidents of the two biggest rival toy companies in the nation?"

"I don't have time for this," the other man said briskly, brushing him off. Kurt didn't fail to notice how flushed he looked. "If you'll excuse me." He walked away.

Kurt was going made to follow him when he heard his own phone buzzing in his pocket. Internally groaning, he reached into his pocket to answer it. Nick's name flashed on the screen.

"What's the problem, Nick? Does he suspect anything?"

"Relax, I'm not even there yet," Nick replied. "I'm on my way to the spot you two agreed on." He held the photo of Blaine in his hand as he looked around, trying to find a matching face.

"Do you see him?" Kurt fretted. He wasn't even there and he was freaking out.

"I think so," Nick said after a long pause. "Oh yeah, that's him over there. The tall one with the blonde hair and dark jacket?"

"That sounds like him, yeah," Kurt agreed. He'd begun pacing in the open space around him. "Does he see you? Are you close enough to be heard? Oh my gosh, if he can hear you, _hang up right now_."

"Calm down," Nick told him. "I'm still far enough away that he can't hear me. He's a looker though, Kurt. You never told me he was that attractive. This picture does him no justice," he said as he pocketed the photo.

"I can only imagine," Kurt groaned. He was looking around the area, keeping his eyes on the man who'd bumped into him. He followed him with his eyes. "Just be cool. Be nice, be funny, be wonderful. Be _me_," he instructed.

"I'll do my best," Nick promised before hanging up the phone.

* * *

><p>"Blaine," Nick called. The blonde boy didn't acknowledge him. "Blaine?" Nick asked, coming straight up to him.<p>

"Oh, yeah," that's me, Blaine replied. He flicked his blonde hair out of his eyes. "Kurt?" he asked in return.

Nick nodded his head stiffly. "Yeah, Kurt. That's my name. My name is Kurt," he babbled.

"Hi," Blaine said. He opened his arms to give Nick a hug. "It's so nice to finally meet you."

Nick wasn't sure what to do, so he ended up giving Blaine an awkward one-armed hug. They broke apart and looked nervously away from one another. Blaine was shuffling his feet and Nick could feel himself starting to blush.

"So," he started. "Toys…"

"Toys," Blaine repeated. "Uh, I mean…_Toys_. That's what I work with. It's pretty exciting stuff."

"How are things with the company?" Nick asked cordially.

Blaine hesitated. "The company…Right. Yeah, we just implemented this new publicity stint. We think it's going to be huge. It's, um, all about how you should play with other people, because playing with yourself is kind of a bummer." He cleared his throat awkwardly. "I mean…I can rephrase that…"

Nick laughed. "No I understood what you meant," he replied, still laughing.

"So…" Blaine prompted, nodding his head. "Reporting. How goes it?"

"Oh, it's probably more boring than your job. Someone kicks the bucket and I have to write about it." He realized how insensitive that sounded and wondered if Kurt would've phrased it that way. Probably not, he decided, but it was too late now.

"You know, you're nothing like your letters led me to believe," Blaine said.

Nick smiled. "I could say the same for you. You're…taller than you sounded on paper."

"And you're more handsome than you sounded on paper," Blaine retorted with a grin.

"Oh, I don't know about that," Nick said. "I mean, I sound pretty darn handsome on paper. Any more attractive and I'm down right deadly."

"I'll say," Blaine agreed.

Their flirting came to a long silence as they both tried to think of what to say.

"The conference!" Nick practically exclaimed. "K- I mean…_Nick, _my friend Nick, told me to meet him there. Should we get going?"

"I don't know, I'm not feeling very business-y today," Blaine replied coolly, running a hand through his blonde hair.

Nick bit his bottom lip unsure of what to do. If he didn't bring Blaine to the conference, Kurt would kill him for sure. But then again, an attractive stranger was asking him to play hooky. Was he supposed to just ignore that fact?

"We could go sightseeing," he suggested. "I could take you to see everything tourist-y about New York. The Brooklyn Bridge, the Statue of Liberty, Broadway, Times Square. You name it, we'll go."

"How about we grab some lunch first?" Blaine asked. "It's on me."

"How could I say no to that?" Nick reasoned, holding out his hand for Blaine to take. And so he did.

* * *

><p>Kurt hit 'redial' for the tenth time in a row. It'd been nearly and hour since Nick had hung up on him and he was no where in sight. Kurt swore under his breath. Nick <em>knew<em> that Blaine had to attend this conference – how big of a deal it was. Kurt had been sure to tell him over and over again. But still he couldn't find Nick _or_ Blaine and now he suspected the worst.

He got Nick's voicemail. Again.

"_Nick_," he said into the receiver. "You're lucky that I have an obligation to be here or else I'd go out there and _find_ you. Once we meet back at your apartment tonight, I'm going to kill you. Literally, I will commit homicide and you will be victim," he raged. "I'll maul you so horribly that they won't be able to identify your body." He was so infuriated that he didn't even notice when the dapper-looking stranger from earlier passed right behind him. "You're lucky that I've found a story to write. That's right – a scoop. The shareholders are going to be pissed when I print this. And it's no thanks to _you_," he hissed. He hung up without another word.

He turned around, preparing to go looking for his stranger, but found that said stranger was right behind him.

The man looked both furious and genuinely upset at the same time. "You're a _reporter?_" he asked. He didn't wait for an answer before stalking off.

Kurt hurried to follow him.

* * *

><p>"Mr. Richardson," Blaine greeted his boss at the foot of a staircase leading up towards the conference rooms. "I'm glad I caught you, I just wanted to warn you - "<p>

"This is going _splendid_, Anderson," his boss said, ignoring him completely. "Alexa is wonderful and we're getting along great. You're watching my back, right?"

"Yes, that's why I feel that I should warn you - "

"It's been a great year for us, wouldn't you say?" Mr. Richardson interrupted. "Listen, Anderson, I noticed a few reporters lurking around here – they think they're so clever." He chuckled to himself. "Any bad press – any at all – would jeopardize our company. So keep an eye, out won't you?"

Blaine felt his heart sinking. He'd screwed up before he'd even begun. "Yes, sir," he replied stiffly.

He turned around to try and find that snooping reporter from earlier. He spotted him near the foot of the stairs, attempting to eavesdrop without being noticed. Blaine suddenly felt a surge of hatred towards this stranger; towards his perfectly coiffed hair and his scarf winded around his neck. Hatred towards his dark pea coat and the confident way he held himself. He found himself hating his light eyes the most – almost grey with flecks of green and blue – that were staring straight at him.

He shook his head in disgust and hurried up the stairs. Whoever this guy was, he was bad news and Blaine planned on staying as far away as possible.

* * *

><p>"And what kind of hour is this?" Kurt asked as Nick wandered into the apartment.<p>

Nick was startled. "Shit, Kurt, you scared me. Sometimes I wonder why I gave you a key to my apartment in the first place."

"I often wonder the same thing," Kurt replied icily. "It's ten o' clock, Nick. _At night_."

"Do you want an award for pointing out the obvious?" Nick asked, taking off his jacket and hanging it on a coat tree near the door.

"No, I want you to apologize," Kurt demanded.

"For what?" Nick asked in disbelief. "I did what you begged me to do. I went out, I met your precious blonde-haired Blaine, I took him out on a date - "

"I did _not_ say take him out on a date," Kurt hissed. "I said to take him to the_ conference_. What must he think of me now? He _knows_ I'm a reporter and he knows _I_ knew that he was supposed to be at the conference. What if he thinks I'm irresponsible now?" he fretted.

"There are worse things for a guy to think about you," Nick said as he got a bottle of water out of the fridge.

Kurt glared at him in stony silence.

"Look, it it's any consolation, I _asked_ him if we should head out to the conference. He was the one who wanted to ditch. And, well…you know it's not really my thing anyways, so I figured I'd go along with it…" He smiled to himself. "It didn't turn out half-bad."

"Why do you look like that?" Kurt asked, walking closer to Nick. "Why do you look like…like something happened?

"Nothing happened," Nick covered up. He looked like he was suppressing a grin and failing miserably.

"Tell me," Kurt ordered.

Nick rolled his eyes. "Well he might've been a little more…physical than you described him. In fact, he wasn't really at all what you described him as."

"Physical?" Kurt repeated. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, he was always holding my hand, we hugged a few times, he might've gone in for a little something-something at the end of the date."

"Oh my god," Kurt replied, horror-struck. "Tell me you didn't kiss him, Nick. Please."

"Well I was just trying to do what you would've done!" Nick explained. "You would have kissed him, wouldn't you?"

"I don't _know_," Kurt said, exasperation clear in his voice. "I've never _met_ him."

"And whose fault is that?" Nick retorted.

Kurt's shoulders sagged in defeat. "You're right," he admitted. "It's my fault. You were just playing the part, I get it."

"It gets worse. Or better…depending on your perspective."

"Just spit it out."

"He asked me out on a second date tomorrow night."

Kurt groaned and slumped down into a nearby chair. "Please tell me you're lying."

"No," Nick said. "And I might have said yes."

"Nick!" Kurt shouted.

"What? If you don't want me to go, just say so and I won't bother. I'll let _you_ go instead and you can explain this whole crazy scheme to him. Is that what you want to do? Because I'll back out of it if you really want me to, Kurt. Seriously, just say the word."

Kurt shook his head. "It's too late. If I go explain it to him now he'll think I'm insane."

"And rightfully so," Nick muttered. "I mean, no, no of course he won't think that."

"He seems to like you, so just…go out with him tomorrow. It's fine. What's one more date?" Kurt reasoned to himself.

"Great!" Nick said, a little bit too enthused. "I mean…Yeah, that works for me, I guess."

"Did he at least have a good time?" Kurt asked sadly.

"Yeah, he seemed to love spending time with me. With _you_," Nick corrected himself. "He had a great time with…you."

"That's what matters, I guess."

* * *

><p>"Are you insane?" Blaine asked Jeff. "No, seriously. When was the last time someone tested your basic competency."<p>

"Hey, I did what you asked," Jeff shot back. "I took out Kurt. It was a success. Why can't you just be happy about it?"

"I never told you to play hooky," Blaine accused. "I told you to meet him and accompany him to the event. Then _maybe_ if things went well to ask him out for a drink. Did you do any of those things? _No_."

"We had a great time," Jeff said. "Kurt's awesome. He was much more fun than you let on, by the way. We even - "

"Please, if you know what's good for you, don't finish that sentence with 'kissed goodnight.'"

Jeff stayed silent.

"Well?" Blaine demanded.

"You told me not to finish the sentence with that! So I didn't."

Blaine lay face down on his mattress and buried his face in the unmade sheets.

"Jeff, I hate you. I can't believe you made a move on Kurt," he moaned. "_My_ Kurt."

"I also might have…kind of asked him out on a second date tomorrow night," Jeff mumbled from his own bed.

"You what?" Blaine groaned. "This is a disaster."

"No it's not! He said yes. I said I'd take him bowling."

Blaine sat up. "Bowling?" he asked. "_Bowling?_ He'd never go bowling in a million years – he'd never wear another person's shoes."

"Well he said yes. And we were going to go out to dinner after that and then who knows…"

"No," Blaine said sharply. "No 'who knows'. You are not to make any more moves on Kurt. This is my Kurt – you don't make any moves and you don't spice anything up."

"Way to be the mayor of Snooze-ville," Jeff countered. "Whatever, we'll work out another date, it'll be fine."

"I am never asking you to do anything for me ever again," Blaine stated. "And that's final."

* * *

><p>Kurt was washing Nick's dishes while the latter brushed his teeth and filled him in on the details of his date with Blaine.<p>

"We went to Times Square and it was so much fun," Nick said. "He wanted to take pictures of everything – want to see?"

Kurt's grip tightened on the plate he was drying. "No, that's okay. You can show me later."

"Hold on a sec," Nick said as he wandered back towards the bathroom.

The phone hanging on the wall in the kitchen rang. Kurt reached over and answered it without thinking.

"Nick's apartment, who's speaking?"

"Kurt?" a low voice inquired.

"Who's calling?" Kurt asked again.

"This is, uh, J - " There was a muffled scuffling. "I mean, this is Blaine."

Kurt dropped the phone onto the floor with a clatter, along with the plate he'd been holding which shattered as it hit the floor.

"Kurt?" Nick called, dashing out of the bathroom, his toothbrush still in his mouth. "Are you okay? What happened?"

Kurt pointed wordlessly at the phone on the floor. He had a hand covering his mouth as he backed away from the receiver.

Nick stooped down and picked up the phone. "Hello?" There was a pause. "Oh, Blaine, hi," he said. "No, that was just my friend, erm, Nick. Remember, I told you about Nick? Yeah, he's just over visiting and he just…dropped something." He laughed at a joke Kurt couldn't hear. "Yeah, something like that."

There was a long pause as Nick listened to whatever Blaine was saying. Whatever it was, it must've been good because Nick was wearing a goofy smile and walking away from Kurt to try and hide it.

"You're not so bad yourself," Nick said into the receiver. "Maybe I could get a repeat." Another pause. More laughter. Kurt could tell just from the way that Nick was holding himself that Blaine was saying something extremely charming, maybe even sexy. "I had a great time, too," Nick said. "Alright, I'll see you tomorrow night. Yeah, you too. Goodnight."

Nick clicked off the phone and turned back towards Kurt. "Are you okay? Why did you freak out?"

"How does he have your number?" Kurt asked weakly.

"He asked for it, so I gave it to him. I mean, let's face it – you didn't think this whole 'no-calling' agreement was going to last while he was in the same city, did you?"

"No," Kurt mumbled. "I guess not."

"So don't be so bummed out," Nick said as he began to sweep up the shards of broken plate. "Things worked out for the best."

"What did he say?" Kurt asked, still a melancholy tone to his voice. "Anything about me?"

"He said he loved meeting you and that he had a really good time with you," Nick informed him. Spying Kurt's distraught expression, Nick stopped in his tracks. "Isn't that a good thing?"

"Yeah, it's just that…" Kurt wiped a stray tear away from his eyes. "That was our first phone call, you know? And…I wasn't even on it." He headed towards the door. "Just forget it. I'll see you tomorrow before your big date. Bye."

With a click of the door, he was gone.

* * *

><p><em>AN: Seriously,** so much fun to write!**_

_Read carefully, my dear readers and keep in mind the character's perspective because it's about to get even more complicated (;_


	3. Right in Front of His Eyes

_Dear Blaine,_

_ It was so nice finally meeting you today._

Kurt sat back in his chair and stared at the blinking cursor. It was practically mocking him, the way it blinked up towards him; as if daring him to write another word – another lie. The more he thought about it, the more he hated that blinking cursor. It was telling him to type on, to make things even worse – or better yet, just give up and backspace the entire greeting.

He rested his head on his hands as he considered what he'd write next. In truth, he didn't have very many details about the 'date' so he couldn't discuss it and any more deceit to come out of him could only be used against him. He sipped his coffee and set his fingers back to the keys.

_It feels like I've known you my whole life and I'm so glad I can say I've met someone I consider to be my best friend. Maybe it's a little silly emailing you right after we just saw each other and talked on the phone, but I just feel like now is a time to write sentimental letters, you know? You can think me a sap if you'd like. On all my friends' birthdays I call them up at 11:59 and say "Oh, I just wanted to talk to you one last time while you're still [insert age here]". I guess you could say I'm somewhat of a cheeseball, but this just seems like a monumental moment in our relationship…_

Kurt backspaced.

* * *

><p><em>Friendship. I can't wait to see you tomorrow night. Talk to you soon, I guess. I'll never get over the fact that I actually get to say that now. Sweet dreams. Try and not to think of all the things people have done in that hotel bed of yours.<em>

_ I'll be seeing you,_

_ Kurt_

Blaine took off his glasses and hung his head, massaging the back of his neck with his fingertips. It was the tenth time he'd reread the email since he'd gotten the alert – he'd practically memorized it.

Kurt's words stung, he had to admit. Each word, each syllable, each line wasn't meant for him, Blaine Anderson, but one Jeff Sterling who was sound asleep across the room - not a care in the world.

Blaine took a long sip of his piping hot coffee, breathing in the fumes before setting it back on the hotel desk a little harder than necessary. How could he even begin to type back a reply? There was nothing to be said – it was just all a huge lie. How could he bring himself to contribute to the deception when it was his fault in the first place? He was the idiot who'd sent Kurt Jeff's picture over the years. If he hadn't done that then none of this would be happening.

Guilt. Blaine was full of guilt. He was stuck. He couldn't let_ Jeff_ reply to Kurt's email. That would make him sound like even more of an idiot than he'd already been portrayed as. But on the same token, he couldn't reply to it himself without making the situation worse.

Against his better judgment, he set his fingers to the keys and began to type out a reply.

* * *

><p><em>Dear Kurt,<em>

_ Yeah, definitely one of the best days of my life – easily. I'd say it's up there with the day Mr. Richardson offered me this job and most of my experiences at Dalton. You've heard what my friends and I got up to back then, so you know that's saying something. I'll admit, I was so nervous that you wouldn't like me; you could say 'terrified' even. But I'm glad you had as much fun as I did. Definitely, I can't wait to see you tomorrow night. I'm counting down the hours._

_ I'll be seeing you,_

_ Blaine_

Kurt shook his head as he reread the email over again.

He muttered to himself, "He didn't even know it wasn't me…"

* * *

><p>"Okay, tell me what you're allowed to talk about," Kurt drilled Nick as he oversaw his friend getting ready for date number two.<p>

"His work, my work. I mean _your _work," Nick listed "I don't know…the economy? Something boring."

"Just…please don't flirt with him," Kurt said. "Whatever you do, please don't flirt with him."

"But he's so…charming," Nick pointed out. "If he starts something, I have to finish it."

"No, no, don't finish anything," Kurt ordered. "And stay away from his mouth."

"I will. But I can't say he won't stay away from mine…"

"_Nick_."

"I know, I know. It's not fair. That would be messed up of me. Okay, I won't do anything with him," Nick promised. "You can trust me."

"You're my best friend. Of course I trust you or else I wouldn't ask you to do this in the first place, would I?"

"It'll be fine."

"I don't want a repeat of yesterday. At least_ try_ to be me."

"Fashionable, check. Bossy, check. Completely boring, check," Nick replied sarcastically.

"I am not completely boring," Kurt protested. "_Blaine_ thinks I'm interesting."

"Don't you mean he thinks _I'm_ interesting?"

Kurt gave him a disapproving look. "Whatever."

"Alright, I'd better head out or else I'm going to be late. I mean, _you're_ going to be late." Nick shook his head. "It's going to be a pain in the ass to keep having to think about my sentences like that."

"Just go," Kurt waved him away.

"Do me a favor and lock my apartment when you leave," Nick called as he headed towards the door.

Kurt scoffed. "No, I thought I'd leave it open and wait for someone to come and steal all of your possessions hence forcing you to move in with your only friend – me."

"Don't wait up for me."

"Don't _make_ me wait up for you," Kurt countered.

Then he was gone.

Kurt sat in silence for all of two minutes before he was grabbing his coat and racing out of the door after Nick. There was no way he was going to let him out of his sight tonight.

* * *

><p>Jeff was clueless.<p>

There were times when Blaine hated that about his best friend. When they were sharing an apartment in their college years and Jeff would forget when rent was due or when they needed to make a run to the grocery store. And how about that time Jeff was dating a sister out of a set of identical twins and never bothered to learn her name? For months he never knew which one he was taking out on dates. And then he met their older brother…

Blaine shook off the thought as he kept his eyes trained on the blonde head bobbing up and down further ahead of him in the crowd. He couldn't afford to lose him, so he quickened his pace.

There was no way he was going to let Jeff out of his sight tonight.

* * *

><p><em>Stockings are hung with care<em>_  
>The <em>_children sleep with one eye open__  
><em>_Now there's more than toys at stake__  
>'<em>_Cause I'm older now, but not done hoping…_

Jeff walked up to the café that he and Kurt had agreed on. He double-checked the GPS on his phone to make sure he was in the right place.

He was insanely nervous, if he was being honest with himself. Over all the years he'd watched Blaine mooning over a perfect stranger, he'd never understood it. He didn't see the appeal of writing to a stranger and pining for them (though not admitting it). But yesterday…Yesterday it all made sense.

Jeff had been on plenty of dates in his life. Lord knew he'd dated his fair share of women and men alike ever since his middle school days. He'd had more boyfriends and girlfriends than most people he'd ever known in his lifetime – _combined_. That was the mentality he'd gone into this project with. He called it a "project" because he couldn't afford to think of Blaine's Kurt as a "prospect". He'd had dud dates - enough to write a book about practically – and even more one-night stands. That's what he'd originally prepared himself for – a one-time date with someone; something to just barely get through, not with someone to develop feelings for.

But he'd felt something. Shit, he'd felt something.

It wasn't even his fault. It was Kurt's fault. Kurt with his slightly long, dark hair that curled slightly at the end, just over his ears. Kurt with his deep, brown eyes and that smile to die for. Kurt with his great sense of humor and ease of conversation.

As much as he hated to admit it, he'd enjoyed the day they spent together. He'd enjoyed Kurt's company considerably – much more than he'd bargained for.

Then the rational side of him told him that he should feel just a _little bit_ guilty at least. After all, it was Blaine's potential boyfriend he was toying with here. Kurt wasn't his for the taking, he was Blaine's.

But the other part of himself told him that was ridiculous. Kurt wasn't a thing to be reserved. He was a grown man, he could make his own decisions and if he decided that maybe he liked Jeff better than Blaine…

But then again Kurt didn't know that he _was_ Jeff and not Blaine. He thought he was falling for Blaine.

All of this inner turmoil was making Jeff's head hurt. He just wanted to be able to feel what he felt and know it was justified. But it wasn't and it wouldn't be. But the worst part was that he was starting to disregard Blaine's feelings in the whole thing. He knew it was crazy, to be interested in a perfect stranger after only one date, but didn't that happen to people all the time? Some people would go on and on about how they went on one blind date with someone and they knew they were the one.

Well couldn't that happen for Jeff? He had just as much of a chance as anyone else. The problem was he had less of a right. If he started feeling something – no matter how small – for Kurt then it would be considered stealing in the eyes of his best friend. Surely friends came before romance. When this trip was over, Jeff would still be best friends with Blaine and Kurt wouldn't be his concern anymore. So the logical thing would be to play his part and hit the road like he'd originally planned.

But Kurt. Damn it, if Kurt hadn't been so…likeable – so wonderful…then none of this would even be a problem. Jeff didn't know who to blame anymore: Blaine for sending Jeff's picture in the first place? Himself for falling for a person he shouldn't after only spending one day with said person? Or Kurt for being so damn attractive and charming?

"Blaine," a voice greeted him from behind.

He spun around and gave Kurt a wide smile. "Kurt. It's great to see you again."

He went in for a hug, just as he had the day before when they'd first met. Yesterday it felt like it was expected. Surely two long-time pen pals would hug on their first meeting? It was proper and it'd turned out to be extremely awkward. Tonight he went in for the hug because it really felt right.

And it wasn't awkward this time. In fact, it was anything but.

Kurt wrapped his arms around Jeff and pulled him close, his hands splayed on Jeff's back. Jeff's arms wound around Kurt's neck and all he could think was that they fit so well together. How could this man belong to Blaine when he fit so well with Jeff? Where was the fairness?

They held the embrace slightly longer than was called for, but it felt nice. Kurt let go of Jeff and stepped back, beaming up at him.

"Ready to go?" he asked Jeff. "I can't wait to go bowling. I've never been."

"Actually," Jeff started, "I just remembered last night that you would hate bowling."

"I would?" Kurt asked, looking confused. "Oh, I mean. You're right – I _would_. I'd hate it. The shoes."

"Yeah, I figured," Jeff said, coughing awkwardly to cover up his mistake. "So I thought we could do something else, if that's okay with you?"

"What'd you have in mind?" Kurt purred.

* * *

><p>"I <em>don't<em> talk like that," Kurt muttered to himself as he watched Nick and Blaine interact.

He'd wanted to yell when the two had hugged. Nick had held onto Blaine for a moment too long and Kurt had felt the burn of jealousy in the pit of his stomach. That should've been _him_ burying his face into Blaine's blonde hair and holding him close. It should've been him.

He scowled as Blaine reached down and took Nick's hand in his own. The pair moseyed off in the opposite direction, leaving Kurt lurking awkwardly behind a tree. He stepped back onto the sidewalk and followed them.

It was a challenge, staying just far enough away so that Nick wouldn't see him and wanting to be close enough to eavesdrop. He couldn't really find a happy medium, so he just walked briskly behind them. He rolled his eyes when they stopped at an old movie theater and bought tickets for the evening showing.

He wouldn't be rolling his eyes if _he_ was the one Blaine was taking to the movies, of course. In fact, he'd be thrilled. There was a romantic comedy playing and the theater would be dark. Blaine might have tried to put his arm around Kurt or held his hand in the dark theater. Now he'd be trying those things on Nick which didn't please Kurt at all.

He walked up to the ticket booth. "One, please."

Ten minutes later Kurt found himself slipping into the very last row of seats in the theater. It was quite empty, actually, save Nick and Blaine sitting further ahead and another couple in front of them. Out of the corner of his eye, Kurt saw another person sneaking into the back row on the opposite side of the theater. But the movie was already rolling and it was too dark to really see anything. Judging by the dialogue, it was about twenty minutes in.

"Why do movies never start out with a beach scene or something?" Kurt muttered to himself.

He eyed the second person in the back row as they got up and moved a few seats closer to the center. Kurt found it odd, but just ignored them, grabbing a handful of popcorn that he'd stopped to buy at the concession stand and tossing it in his mouth. If he was spying on his best friend and his love interest, he might as well be well-fed.

* * *

><p>Blaine glanced over at the other person in the back row of the theater. The silhouette looked vaguely familiar, but damn it the theater was too dark to make out any features. He saw the other person looking straight at him, but he shook it off. His main concern wasn't some stranger in the back row, but the couple sitting nice and cozy a few rows before him.<p>

The movie was hitting the halfway point – the romantic lead had already lost the girl and was now figuring out how to win her back. Painfully predictable, but it would have been more enjoyable if he'd been watching the screen as opposed to Jeff and Kurt.

The armrests in the theater were moveable. He groaned when he saw Jeff lift the armrest between him and Kurt and put his arm around the other man. He grimaced when Kurt laid his head on Jeff's shoulder, scooting closer to the blonde.

His fingernails dug into the base of his palms as he clenched his fists. He wanted to yell or at least walk over there and pry them apart. And why shouldn't he? He was close enough to. But he restrained himself and watched them with gritted teeth. They were way too close for comfort – He'd told Jeff to behave and keep his hands to himself, but it seemed like that plan wasn't working too well.

It looked like the pair were having a conversation, but it was too hushed for him to overhear. He hoped against hope that Jeff was telling Kurt that they should take it slow or something along those lines. But the way Jeff's lips were intimately close to Kurt's ear only made Blaine's heart sink.

This didn't look promising.

* * *

><p>Nick's heart skipped a beat when Blaine's arm made its way around his shoulder. He knew that Blaine was thinking he was putting his arm around <em>Kurt<em>, but it still felt nice. The weight of it across his back and on his shoulder was utterly delicious. His fingers were drumming against Nick's shoulder – a gentle, solid rhythm.

Nick followed the line of Blaine's arm to its origin. He smiled up at Blaine and that goofy grin he wore as he ran his hands through those gorgeous blonde locks of his. He was noticing that this was one of Blaine's habits and he had to admit – against his better judgment – that it was completely hot.

He readjusted himself closer to Blaine and even dared to lean his head on the other man's shoulder. If Kurt could see them now, he'd be furious, but Nick was just going along with what he felt. And what he was feeling was telling him to give in and lean his head against Blaine's shoulder. Blaine's grip on his shoulders tightened and Nick found himself smiling to himself.

"Is this okay?" Blaine whispered into Nick's ear.

Nick ignored the chill Blaine's low voice sent through him and nodded. "Yeah, this is nice." When he looked up, Blaine was looking at him with those dark brown eyes just under that fringe of light blonde hair.

"Is it dumb if I say I feel like I…know you?" Blaine asked.

Nick frowned. "No, I feel the same way. I mean, it's impossible - " '_Completely impossible_,' he added mentally, " – but I feel like I've known you my whole life. But that can't be, because we've only just met…In person, I mean," he hastened to add.

"Right…in person," Blaine whispered back. "But that can happen can't it? You go on one date and you know you've met someone important?"

"You f-feel that way?" Nick stammered, his heart pounding faster.

"Yeah," Blaine murmured, giving Nick a half-smile. "I do."

Then Nick was staring at his lips. Oh god, why had he gone and done that? Kurt would kill him with his bare hands…But, oh, how kissable Blaine's lips looked. They looked soft and inviting; warm and experienced, he'd say. Oh no, now he was thinking about how good it'd feel to kiss them. He had to bite his own lip to restrain himself, but he wanted to kiss Blaine so badly. He wanted to let his hands tangle themselves in that blonde hair and just kiss him insane, movie be damned. It almost hurt, he wanted it so bad.

Blaine must've been thinking the same thing because Nick watched as _his_ gaze dipped down to his lips and back up again. Nick inched forward – just one inch. His heart almost stopped when he saw Blaine leaning in further. They both gauged the distance between them and in that moment, Kurt was the absolute furthest thing from his mind.

The second Blaine's lips touched his, all memory of Kurt was wiped from Nick's memory because Blaine's lips _were _soft. They were gently pressing one quick, sweet kiss to Nick's mouth. They broke apart after less than a second, determining if the other was okay with this development. When they found themselves both smiling shyly at one another, they took that as the go-ahead to go in for another try.

Blaine's fingers brushed against Nick's cheek as they kissed a second time. His hand kept him there, secure and warm against his skin. Nick felt his eyes sliding shut as Blaine's lips parted slightly. He scooted impossibly closer to Blaine, one hand in his blonde hair and the other one gripping the collar of his coat, encouraging him.

Blaine's hand slid down to cradle Nick's neck and pull him closer. Their kisses got deeper, longer. They were learning the contours and nuances of each other's lips. Blaine was nipping at Nick's lower lip and sucking it lightly. Nick had to suppress a small moan as he opened his mouth wider. His breath shook as he felt Blaine's tongue against his.

He was thinking didn't want Blaine to stop – in fact, they might just have to miss the entire movie…

* * *

><p>Kurt's jaw couldn't drop any further. He had a hand covering his mouth as he looked on in horror.<p>

Nick was _kissing_ Blaine. And not chaste, quick kisses either – not that that would've been any more excusable – but long, deep kisses. Kisses that emitted small sounds. Their hands were God knows where, but he could see Blaine's hands gripping the back of Nick's jacket rather firmly from his vantage point.

They might as well have been consummating right there and then, they were so into one another. Kurt felt the sting of fresh tears on the corners of his eyes, but he couldn't bring himself to wipe them away. All he felt was betrayal.

Reason told him he should either look away or get up and leave all together, but his eyes were glued to the pair. And the pair were glued to one another, seemingly by the lips. And, ugh, their breathing was loud and they were readjusting to get closer to one another…

Out of the corner of his eye, Kurt saw the other stranger in the back row get up in a huff and stomp out of the theater, slamming the door behind him. Not even that strange display was enough to get the couple in front of Kurt to come up for air.

But it was enough to knock him out of his reverie. He stood up quickly, spilling his popcorn all over the aisle, but he didn't care. He ran out of the theater in a flash. By the time he got out of the theater, the tears were coming faster, but he didn't stop for anyone. He pushed out of the back doors of the theater – straight into…

* * *

><p>Blaine felt a force stumbling into him with such might that he was sent flying forward a few paces. He braced himself against a light post before spinning around.<p>

"_What the - _" he exclaimed as he looked around. He groaned aloud when he saw a familiar face – the only face he never wanted to see again. "Oh, it's _you_," he spat angrily.

"I'm sorry," the reporter panted. It was clear that he'd been crying, but Blaine couldn't bring himself to care too much. "I was just, uh…I just saw…I mean – I was trying to…" He gave up on his explanation. "I'm sorry," he repeated.

"As you should be," Blaine told him. "You should watch where you're going."

The reported seemed to recover his take-no-guff demeanor from the day before as he straightened up. "Look who's talking," he accused. "You ran into me yesterday at the conference, so just consider us equal now."

"Whatever, I don't have time for this," Blaine said. He started to stalk away in the opposite direction.

"Wait," the stranger called after him. "Wait! I have questions to ask you for my article! Wait up!"

"And here's my answer: no comment," Blaine huffed.

The other man caught up to him, grabbing his arm. "No, wait. I have to know…" He was still panting, seeing as how he had to run to catch up to Blaine. "I need to know…_Is_ there an affair going on? Are there plans to combine the companies? Is there a merger on its way?"

"I'm not going to answer your questions," Blaine said, shooting the reporter an incredulous look. "Not now, not ever."

"But, wait. I just…" The reporter was looking back towards the theater doors. His voice was cracked and he looked desperate; distraught, even.

"Are you okay?" Blaine asked. He followed the other man's gaze back to the theater doors. "Are you waiting for someone?"

"Sort of," he said. "A friend…Well, an ex-friend really. My future homicide victim, as a matter of fact." He started when the doors to the theater opened again.

Blaine groaned as Jeff and Kurt sauntered out of the theater, arm in arm. They had that after-kiss glow on their faces. Maybe he should just save time and kill Jeff now…

"Get down!" the reporter shouted, grabbing Blaine's arm and dragging him into a nearby bakery.

He pressed Blaine's back against the glass and kept him pinned there until the couple had walked past. They hadn't even noticed them as they continued walking arm in arm.

The reporter released the lapels of his coat and backed away from him. He completely ignored Blaine as he wandered back out to the sidewalk, watching Jeff and Kurt as they walked away.

The cashier in the bakery was looking at Blaine strangely.

"Don't mind us," Blaine said. "Just looking." He nodded awkwardly before heading outside of the shop himself.

"Why are you watching those two?" he asked the reporter.

He ignored Blaine completely, looking after the couple with a dazed expression. "He didn't even notice…"

"Who didn't notice _what_?" Blaine asked, feeling more and more exasperated by the minute. "What are you talking about?"

"You'd think after over fifteen years of writing me back and forth…that he'd _know_," the reporter said softly. "You'd think he'd know _it wasn't me_. But he can't even tell." He hung his head sadly. "And _Nick_," he gestured to the brunette on Jeff's arm. "Nick was _shameless_ back in the theater. God, how could he do that to me?" The reporter shook his head wearily. "I just want to run up to Blaine and say '_It's me, you idiot. I'm Kurt. I'm the one you've been writing to_.' But I can't…He can't even tell the difference between me and a perfect stranger…"

Kurt's soliloquy came to an end.

Blaine's heart was pounding. He couldn't believe that the reporter standing in front of him – the one he'd come to detest after only a day – was in fact, Kurt Hummel. The man of his dreams was standing right in front of him and he hadn't even known. Kurt was right with what he said – He _was_ an idiot.

"I'm sorry," Kurt said, shaking his head profusely. "I should learn how to shut up sometimes. I'm Kurt Hummel," he offered his hand to Blaine. "And I'm not normally this dramatic. Well…" He thought about it for a moment. "I am, but it comes in doses, I swear."

"Kurt?" Blaine asked. "Kurt Hummel?" he asked in shock as he took Kurt's hand and shook it.

"Yeah, that'd be the third time I say it," Kurt replied with a chuckle.

"It is…_so_ nice to meet you," Blaine told him. "Genuinely."

Kurt looked confused. "It is? Call me crazy, but I didn't think you liked me at all."

"Right, well…" Blaine searched for an excuse, "Bad timing. It always comes down to bad timing."

"It's nice to meet you too, in that case," Kurt said, taking his hand back. "And your name? It _is _customary when two people meet that the other introduces themself as well…"

"Bl - " Blaine bit his tongue, eyes jumping to the back of Jeff's head disappearing into the crowd. Right, his best friend was still going under his name, so he couldn't reveal himself yet. "My name is…Jeff. Yeah, you can call me Jeff."

"Okay…Jeff," Kurt said. "So I have a few more questions for you and I really don't want to keep following those two…What do you say to a cup of coffee?"

"Ah, I can't say I'll answer the questions, but coffee sounds great."

"I know a place," Kurt said. "Come on."

* * *

><p>"And then I told my dad, 'I didn't mean to eat all the cheese snacks, I was just studying for the finals.' And every year after that, around finals time my dad would buy me boxes and boxes of that same snack. I'd convinced him that I needed it to study. It wasn't half-bad of a deal," Blaine joked.<p>

Kurt laughed. "That story reminds me of a friend," he said. "You'd love him. But anyways, chocolate is my weakness. Well, chocolate and coffee," he said, lifting up the steaming mug in his hands.

"Oh, that's right. The dark chocolate fudge with the almonds, right?" Blaine asked, recalling from their letters.

Kurt looked at him strangely. "Yeah…How did you know that?"

"Lucky guess," Blaine said quickly, taking a hasty sip of his too-hot coffee, nearly searing his tongue off. "I have a sister..."

"Right…" Kurt said, still not looking convinced. But he let it go anyways. "So are you from out of town too then?"

"Yeah, I am. I flew in just for the convention. Don't get me wrong, I'd love to live in New York, but it doesn't seem to be in the cards for me just yet."

"Doesn't your company have a branch here in New York? All the big names do."

"Yeah, but it's relatively new and my work revolves around being closer to home for now."

"That's so weird…" Kurt mused, staring at Blaine over his drink.

"What is?"

Kurt considered him for a moment longer. "I just could've sworn you were from around here. Or maybe I'd seen you before yesterday? You just seem…very familiar to me."

Blaine nodded his head. "Yeah, I, uh…get that a lot. I must just have one of those faces."

"It's not your face," Kurt clarified. "It's your personality. I feel like we've met."

"We couldn't have," Blaine said quickly. "I mean, that's impossible. This being my first time in the Big Apple and all."

"Right," Kurt agreed. "That's right. So I can't have met you before."

"You look better than you did after the movie," Blaine noted. "Feeling better?"

Kurt hummed into his coffee cup. "Considerably," he said. "Going out for coffee with you was actually a good idea," he told Blaine. "I feel like I'm much less likely to commit homicide now." He chuckled to himself.

"You never told me the whole story behind that…" Blaine prompted.

Kurt smirked. "And _you_ never answered my questions for my article."

Blaine rolled his eyes. "Come on, just tell me…"

"I don't know…" Kurt hesitated. "It's a long, complicated story. And to top it off, it's incredibly stupid. You wouldn't be interested in hearing it."

"I'm interested. I've got nothing but time."

"I don't know, I should be heading back towards my apartment. It's quite a walk from here and it's getting late. I don't want to be on the streets too late…"

Blaine pulled a twenty out of his pocket and set it on the table top to cover their drinks.

"I'll walk you. Long walk, long story… You do the math."

Kurt smiled at him. "Okay, but you asked for it."

* * *

><p>"It was <em>such<em> an idiot move," Kurt moaned. "I remember the moment as if it was yesterday. I had the letter all written out and sitting in the envelope in front of me, right? And in my left hand I had a picture of Nick – this super nice one when he was dressed up for a friend's wedding, a tux and everything – and in my right I had a picture of myself from when I was on my college's journalism staff. I should've just put in my own, no matter how dorky it was. But I put in his." He shook his head.

"You were scared," Blaine supplied for him in a knowing tone.

Kurt nodded. "Yeah, I was. But I shouldn't have been. Blaine's the only person who's ever genuinely cared about me. It seems so petty that it all came down to looks." He shook his head. "I'm _not_ shallow – I'm not a shallow person. But that's what it all boiled down to. Blaine wouldn't have cared – I know he wouldn't have cared what I looked like. He just wanted to see me and I couldn't even give him that."

"You had nothing to worry about," Blaine told him. "There's nothing wrong with the way you look. In fact," he said, lowering his voice conspiratorially, "I think you look better than your friend, Nick."

"Shut up," Kurt said, shoving Blaine's arm as they walked. "Everyone's always liked Nick better in all the years I've known him, so I guess I figured Blaine would too, if he were given the choice." Kurt closed his eyes and sighed. "It's all my fault. I brought this upon myself. If I'd just sent my own picture we wouldn't be in this situation."

"Oh I wouldn't say that," Blaine sing-songed. Kurt was staring at him strangely again. "I mean, Blaine could've been nervous too. You never know. He might've done the same thing if he'd gotten the chance."

"I doubt it. Blaine would never do that," Kurt denied.

"You'd be surprised," Blaine muttered.

"What was that?"

"Nothing, go on."

"Anyways," Kurt sighed. "When I heard Blaine was coming to town I panicked. I confessed to Nick that I'd sent his picture instead and, of course, he was furious with me at first. But I convinced him to go on that first date with Blaine. I shouldn't have, but I did." He laughed humorlessly to himself. "Mistake number two."

"Well, Nick agreed with it, so it's not _all_ your fault," Blaine reasoned.

"I guess so. But then he didn't show up to the conference at all. I was so embarrassed – I didn't want Blaine to think I was irresponsible, because I'm not."

"Right, you only send pictures of your best friend to him and say it's you," Blaine joked.

Kurt laughed as well. "Yeah, that's right." He cleared his throat. "Then Nick told me there was a kiss. And I just couldn't believe it. I could _not_ believe that Blaine would kiss somebody else. I had barely come to terms with the fact that _I_ had feelings for him, then he went and kissed Nick!"

Blaine's heart flip-flopped when he heard Kurt admit his feelings. But Kurt didn't notice him at all.

"I was so upset. But then I started thinking that maybe there was a chance that Blaine _did_ like Nick better than me. And who am I to crush his heart, right? I mean, he's only here for a week and if he's having fun with Nick then I shouldn't be a buzzkill. I should just let it play out and then he'll fly back and it'll be over, right?"

"Makes sense," Blaine agreed.

"But now I see that it was the wrong decision to let Nick go on this second date," Kurt complained. "The second I heard they had kissed on the first date, I should've known that a second date could only take things further."

"Yeah, but you didn't know they'd go _that_ far - " Blaine protested.

Kurt halted in his tracks. "I didn't even tell you what happened yet."

Blaine mentally kicked himself. "Right…I was just _guessing_. I assumed they kissed again. Don't let me interrupt, just keep going."

Kurt continued looking at him with raised eyebrows, but resumed walking again. His footsteps made light crunching sounds in the snow. "They went to the movies. They sat there in the dark and they were practically…_groping_ each other," Kurt said, pulling a face. "It was _shameful_. Just…horrible to watch. But they did it," he mumbled. "_Blaine_ did it," he clarified. "I'll never be able to compete with Nick now." He laughed silently. Then a bit louder. Then a bit louder still.

"What's the joke?" Blaine asked. He was already laughing just from hearing Kurt's infectious giggles.

"Competing with_ Nick_," Kurt repeated between peals of laughter. "Nick's pretending to be _me_ and Blaine believes him. So in a way, I'm competing with_ myself_ over a guy I haven't even met."

"You're right, that is complicated," Blaine agreed with a grin.

"Whatever," Kurt said, recovering from his laughing fit. "I'm just going to let Nick keep going out with Blaine. The man wouldn't be interested in me now anyways. Only a few more days until he flies out anyways, so why bother?"

"That's a good idea," Blaine agreed.

"It is?"

"Yeah…well, how would it look if you exposed yourself now?" Blaine goaded him. "What would you say? 'Oh hi, Blaine. The guy you've been necking with the past few nights is my best friend and the second time, I even watched you two go at it'? Yeah, that'll work."

"You're so right," Kurt told him. "Well, for now at least." He stopped next to a doorstop. "This is me," he said, jerking his thumb towards the entrance of the apartment building. "So are you going to ask me?" he questioned Blaine.

"Ask you what?" Blaine retorted. "Ask you how you got yourself into such an insane mess? I was thinking about it, but it sounded too impolite," he joked.

"No, aren't you going to make plans with me?"

"I didn't know I was entitled too…"

"Don't play dumb. I'm going to find you tomorrow at the conference anyways. So you might as well make plans with me, Jeff."

Blaine nodded. "Plans. So dinner and a movie?" he asked with a wink.

Kurt's face fell. "Oh, Jeff…No, I couldn't. I mean, I like you and all," he hastened to assure him. "But I can't. I mean, I can't when I still have Blaine…"

"Blaine's going out with another man, isn't he?" Blaine countered.

"I guess so…But I just still feel loyal to him. Going out with another man…It'd feel too much like cheating for me."

Blaine nodded, accepting defeat. "Okay, it doesn't have to be a date…"

"No, wait," Kurt said, brightening up. "I'll make you a little deal," he said, an evil glint in his eye. "I'll give you one date – you can pick the place. But, I get to ask five questions."

Blaine snorted. "Two."

"Four," Kurt countered, crossing his arms.

Blaine shook his head. "Three. And that's my final offer."

"Fine," Kurt shrugged. He pulled out a slip of paper and wrote something down on it before handing it over to Blaine. "Here's my number so you can reach me."

Blaine stared down at the digits before pocketing them.

Kurt was already halfway up the stairs. Before he reached the door, he turned around to face Blaine one last time.

"I only needed three questions anyways," he said before disappearing inside.

* * *

><p>"Jeff, wake up!" Blaine said loudly, shaking his friend awake.<p>

Jeff stirred, pulling his pillow over his head. "Is this going to become a thing with us? Are you going to keep waking me up in the middle of the night because I really need some beauty sleep here."

Blaine laughed. "No, I have a bone to pick with you."

* * *

><p>"I can't believe you did that!" Kurt yelled. "Were you even considering how that would make me feel?"<p>

"You were the last thing that was on my mind," Nick said. "Under a long, _long_ list of thoughts actually."

"Nick, I told you _not to kiss him_."

"Hey, I didn't know you would be stalking us on our date," Nick shot back. "What was _that_ about?"

"I have the right to oversee what's happening with my relationship!" Kurt snapped.

"_Your_ relationship?" Nick scoffed. "Is that was this is? Because I don't see you being involved too heavily."

"Watch it," Kurt warned, jabbing a finger at Nick's chest.

* * *

><p>"How could you even kiss him?" Blaine asked. "I specifically told you before you left this hotel to behave."<p>

"I thought that _was_ behaving," Jeff mumbled. "And Kurt didn't seem to mind."

"You know what?" Blaine said. He came over and sat on the edge of Jeff's bed. "I have one thing to say to you and one thing only."

Jeff braced himself for the worst.

"Thank you," Blaine told him, giving him a pat on the back before hopping up and heading towards the bathroom.

Jeff looked confused. "What?"

"_Thank you_," Blaine repeated. "Seriously. Just, uh, keep up the good work, okay? You're doing great."

"O-okay?" Jeff answered.

* * *

><p>"Maybe I don't want you doing this anymore," Kurt said angrily. "What if Blaine thinks I'm <em>that<em> kind of guy now?" He shuddered. "What if he doesn't like _those kinds_ of guys, Nick?"

"Trust me, he didn't mind," Nick smirked. "Whoa, whoa!" he shouted when Kurt advanced on him. "Out of line, I know. I'm sorry."

"I can't believe you," Kurt muttered as he began to pace.

Nick sighed. "I offered you the date, Kurt. I told you I'd back out if you wanted me to. But you insisted that I go ahead and do this. Might I remind you that I'm doing you a favor?"

"Are you?" Kurt scoffed. "Because right now I don't feel like you are."

"_I offered you the date_," Nick repeated.

"You're right. Whatever it's over now, so it doesn't matter," Kurt reasoned as he paced.

Nick bit his lip nervously. "Actually…He might have asked me out on another date tomorrow night," he admitted.

"What?"

"And I _might_ have said yes already."

"_What?_" Kurt hissed. "No, no. Absolutely _not_." He walked over and picked up the phone from the kitchen wall and thrust it into Nick's hands. "You call him right now and cancel."

Nick groaned and started dialing. Kurt didn't ask him how he'd already memorized Blaine's number, but just stood there.

"Blaine?" Nick asked. "Yeah, it's me, Nick. Uh, I had a lot of fun on our date. Yeah, I did too," he said in a lower voice. "Oh, is that so?" He covered the receiver with his hand. "He just said you were a good kisser. You should be thanking me." He went back to the phone. "Yeah, I was just calling you to say…About tomorrow night…"

Kurt snatched the phone away. "You know what? On second thought, don't cancel. I have plans anyways so just go ahead and do it."

"Okay…" Nick relented. "But I'm going to need the phone back."

Kurt let out a yelp and dropped the phone. Nick rolled his eyes and picked up the phone from the floor.

"Yeah, sorry about that. I _dropped the phone_," he explained, giving Kurt a pointed stare. "About tomorrow night," he started again, "I can't wait. Yeah. Mmhmm. Yeah, me too. So same time tomorrow night, right?" He laughed at some unheard joke. "Great. Yeah, I look forward to it. See you tomorrow. Goodnight." He ended the call with a click of the end button.

"Great," Kurt repeated without emotion. "This is great."

Nick nodded. "_I'll _say."

* * *

><p><em>AN: So are you with me so far? __Eeek, writing this gives me so much joy and I hope it shows :D_

_Basically I started writing this over Thanksgiving break and it's going to be eight chapters total - seven of which are already completed but not edited. I've posted three today and I plan on posting three more tomorrow - sometime - and the last two on Wednesday. Yes, yes?_

**_All reviews are deeply appreciated!_**


	4. It's a Date

_The twinkling of the lights__  
><em>_As Santa carols fill the household__  
><em>_Old Saint Nick has taken flight__  
><em>_With a heart on board so please be careful_

Kurt pulled out his small camera, pretending to take pictures of the architecture and décor for a few minutes. When no one seemed to be paying him any mind, he turned around and looked for his real targets.

They were straight ahead: Mr. Paul Richardson from _Tot's Toys_ and Ms. Alexa Vaisman from _Toys 4 All_. Kurt smirked as he saw they were still plainly flirting with one another in the middle of the huge toy conference. Anyone could've seen them – anyone who was looking, that is. If a covert relationship was what they were going for, they were failing miserably. Kurt almost felt bad that he'd have to be the one to expose them. _Almost_.

He held his camera out in front of him, centering the happy couple on his display screen. Zooming in on the two, he began taking a few pictures. The first one caught Alexa placing her hand on Paul's chest as if saying "Oh my, aren't you so funny?" when in reality she probably just really wanted to touch his chest. The second was even better; Mr. Richardson's hand placed exceedingly low on Ms. Vaisman's lower back, so low that he could've been touching her rear nether region. The angle of the photo totally captured the scandal with ease.

The third photo made it even more obvious. It showed the pair standing and arm's length apart, holding hands. There was a figure between them though that impaired the effect Kurt was going for. He frowned down at his display screen at the figure, zooming in on it. He had to laugh to himself when he realized it was none other than Jeff with his adorable curly hair and generally serious expression.

Even in candid, he was beautiful.

Kurt walked straight up to him.

* * *

><p>"Fancy meeting<em> you<em> here," Kurt said brightly from behind BLaine. "I had _no idea_ you'd be here."

Blaine smiled. "We said we'd meet here. At this exact spot at this exact time."

Kurt feigned shock. "Really? I don't recall. It's a total coincidence that we've met here. Let's just call it serendipity."

"Is that the writer in you getting carried away?" Blaine asked.

"You know what, Jeff? It is," Kurt nodded. "Because it's almost been suppressed to death, no pun intended."

Blaine laughed. "Right, because you write obituaries."

"Yeah, that's right." Kurt did a double take. "Wait...I never told you that I write obituaries. Did you look me up?" He patted Blaine's shoulder. "I'm flattered, Jeff. Honestly I am."

Blaine nodded, quick to agree. "Of course. Yeah, I looked you up. Couldn't resist."

"I don't think anyone's ever looked me up," Kurt mused. "This is a huge moment in my career." He pantomimed someone winning an Oscar.

"So, if you're on obituaries, why are you here at the toy conference? I have it on good authority that no one here's dead," the other man joked.

"So do I," Kurt replied smoothly. "Just call it a bit of a promotion. This is my one chance to prove to my boss that I can write something important. I mean, not to say that obituaries aren't important. Trust me, I've gotten more than a few calls from displeased families saying I didn't honor their loved one with a long enough article. But length isn't important, if you see my point."

Blaine choked on the water he'd been sipping. "Right, right. It's all about if the article's well-written," he covered up. "Not well-endowed."

Kurt threw back his head and laughed. "You're terrible."

"You started it," Blaine retorted.

"So shall we proceed to the main room?" Kurt asked, looping his arm through Blaine's.

"Honestly, I don't think we have a choice."

"Yeah, but it's nice to pretend we do, isn't it?"

Blaine chuckled. "Yeah, it is nice."

* * *

><p>"Hummel," Mr. Graham called.<p>

Kurt scrambled out of his office, then doubled back to get his notebook full of notes for his article. He jogged down the hallway into Mr. Graham's office and took a seat immediately without needing to be asked.

"How goes the article, Hummel?" his boss asked, not looking up from his paperwork.

Kurt rifled through his notes. "Oh it's great. I meant to tell you that I'm taking a _bit_ of a different angle on it."

"Oh?" Mr. Graham asked, looking up and over his glasses towards Kurt. "And what angle might that be? I expect holiday fluff galore in this article, son."

Kurt opened and shut his mouth wordlessly. "And there will be_ plenty_ of that to go around. But I thought I should just let you know that I've got a huge scoop and I'm the only one out of all the papers who has _insider information_."

Mr. Graham nodded slowly. "I'm impressed, Hummel. If you can deliver on that article like you say…It'd be huge for the paper."

"I know," Kurt replied eagerly. "But I'm up for the job, sir. I will have it to you no later than Thursday night, I promise."

"Any hints as to what this lead might be?"

Kurt thought it over for a moment. "You won't be disappointed – that's all I'll say."

"You'd better get back to it then," Mr. Graham said, gesturing to the door.

"I should," Kurt said, standing up and heading back out the door. "You can count on me, sir."

Five minutes later he was zoned in to writing the first draft of his article. He was backspacing, tapping the keys furiously, and probably creating tons of typos on the way, but he was on a roll so he didn't bother to stop. What were first drafts for if a person couldn't make a few mistakes anyways? He was on fire, nearly three pages in when the phone on his desk rang.

Sighing, he pushed away from his keyboard and picked it up, nestling the receiver between his shoulder and his ear so he could continue typing.

"Kurt Hummel here at the New York Post, how can I help you?"

"Kurt?" came Jeff's voice through the receiever.

"Jeff?" he asked back. "How did you get this number? This is my office number."

"I thought we'd already established that I looked you up," came the teasing reply.

Kurt shook his head. "That's right, we did. Forgive my momentary lapse of memory. What can I do for you?" he asked in his most business-like tone.

Jeff chuckled on the other end of the call. "I just had a quick question for you."

"Shoot."

"What do you know about Christmas trees?"

Kurt smirked to himself. "Almost everything. Why? What do _you_ know the major affairs between two executives of two rival toy companies?" he shot back. "Because I have the feeling the answer is the same as the one I'm going to give you."

"You're right, we did have a deal," Jeff agreed. "Can I count that as your first question then?"

Kurt snorted ungracefully. "No, I'm saving all of my questions for later, thank you very much."

"Not a problem," Jeff replied. "So will you come with me to pick out a tree?"

"_That's_ your date?" Kurt asked, eyebrows raised in interest. "How'd you know I'm a complete sucker for anything Christmas related?"

"Lucky guess," Jeff told him. "So is that a yes?"

"It's a 'definitely'," Kurt said.

* * *

><p><em>"On the fourth day of Christmas,<br>My true love sent to me  
>Four calling birds,<br>Three French hens,  
>Two turtle doves,<br>And a partridge in a pear tree,"_

Blaine sang as he danced around the hotel room. He had three different ties hanging from his neck and his shirt was unbuttoned. He was trying to decide what would make him look best on his and Kurt's first official date (well as official as it could get with Kurt still thinking he was Jeff), but he couldn't stand still – he was just so excited.

He grabbed a hairbrush and pointed at his own reflection as he sang the next verse.

_On the fifth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me…_

Jeff walked into the hotel room and ran next to Blaine, not missing a beat. He supplied the rest of the line for him: "_Five golden rings!"_

They exchanged glances before finishing the song in two-part harmony.

_Four calling birds,  
>Three French hens,<br>Two turtle doves,  
>And a partridge in a pear tree<em>

They ended with a flourish, holding the notes out for longer than necessary.

Jeff high fived him when they were done. "Oh man, I haven't sung like that since my Warblers days," Jeff said. "That was so much fun."

"Tell me about it," Blaine replied. "Gosh, today is just a beautiful day, isn't it, Jeff? It's so wonderful and Christmassy."

"Christmassy?"

"Yeah, like it's full of possibilities, you know what I mean?"

Jeff looked sidelong at Blaine. "…No."

"Forget it," Blaine said, finally deciding which tie to pair with his shirt.

"Hold on a second," Jeff said. "Why are you so…chipper?"

"I'm not," Blaine lied – badly. "It was just a good day at the conference, I guess. You know: toys, manufacturers, businessmen. It's enough to make a man giddy."

"You are the weirdest person I know," Jeff told him. "Where are you off to for the evening?"

"Oh...a business dinner," Blaine announced after some quick thinking. "Listen, I have to run. You have fun with, Kurt, okay? Be good to him and just keep doing what you're doing. You're on a roll."

"Thanks?" Jeff said, a perplexed frown on his face. "I'll see you later then."

"Don't wait up for me," Blaine called as he headed out the door, one arm in his jacket and one out.

"I didn't plan on it," Jeff retorted. But he was alone in the hotel room once more.

* * *

><p>"This is the <em>best<em> tree lot in all of New York," Kurt proclaimed. "How did you know about it?"

"Oh, this _friend of mine_. He's really into Christmas and he told me I absolutely _had_ to come check out this tree lot if I ever was in New York," Blaine fibbed slightly. "So here I am and I thought I'd take you with me."

"Well, I'm honored," Kurt replied happily. "There is nothing more important than picking out your Christmas tree and you, my friend, have come to the right person." He took hold of Blaine's hand. "I just so happen to be somewhat of an expert. And I can find you the perfect tree. Of course, I _should_ be looking for myself because I haven't had a chance to pick one out…"

"You remind of him, you know," Blaine said with a grin. "My friend, I mean. He's the best person I know."

"Does that make me the second best person you know?" Kurt preened. "Wow, way to roll out the compliments on the first date."

"Oh, so it _is_ a date?" Blaine teased.

Kurt shrugged. "I said it was a date, didn't I?"

"I was under the impression it was more of a deal."

"Pick your fights, Jeff," Kurt retorted.

That one reminder was enough to wipe the smile off Blaine's face faster than he would've believed possible. They fell into a sudden, awkward silence.

"Is something wrong? Was it something I said?" Kurt asked, squeezing Blaine's hand.

"No, I'm fine," Blaine recovered. "I was just looking at this tree here. Wondering if it was worthy enough for me to buy."

Kurt sniggered. "Jeff, that tree is like four feet tall. It's not worth enough for me to put in my bathroom."

"You'd do that?" Blaine asked.

"I might have a small artificial tree for every room in my apartment – including my bathroom. _Maybe._"

"Wow," Blaine acted surprised at this not-so-new information. "I'm impressed. You take obsession to a whole new level."

"I prefer the term 'festive freak', personally."

"I've always wanted a small tree for my bedroom. Then I could fall asleep looking at the lights," Blaine humored him. "I guess that's the five year old in me talking." He laughed to himself. "When I was a kid, I would wake up in the middle of the night – okay, it was really around ten at night, but I had an early bedtime so it _felt_ like the middle of the night – and I'd sit at the top of the stairs just to look at the Christmas tree."

"Cute," Kurt commented.

"My dad was always onto me though," Blaine recalled. "He could time it like clockwork. I'd be sitting there for no longer than ten minutes – and if you'd asked me, I could've sworn up and down that I'd barely made any noise getting up – and sure enough, every night he would come out of the living room and yell at me to go to bed."

"Smart man. Dads always know."

"It was always worth it: getting yelled at," Blaine clarified. "Every night, every year of my childhood, the very day that tree went up in the formal living room."

"You'd be there," Kurt guessed.

"Yeah."

"Is Christmas a big thing back home for your family?" the reporter asked.

Blaine shrugged. "It used to be. Back when my mom was alive. She always wanted to make it magical for my sister and I. She'd decorate the whole house with tinsel and lights. We'd be baking from November to December nonstop. She hand crafted our stocking holders and she sewed all our stockings. She even customized them with monograms on the corners," he remembered.

"So what happened after she passed?"

"My dad was depressed. I think he blamed himself for her death. But it was unpreventable. Not even he, with all his money and power, could save her. He became bitter after that. He wouldn't even acknowledge Christmas. It was like the calendar went straight from Thanksgiving to New Year's for him. So I took it upon myself to do the Christmas thing. Then when I moved out, I'd be the one hosting Christmas. I didn't want it to lose its magic for my little sister, so I did it up for her."

Kurt shook his head. "It's so weird. I feel like I've heard this story before. But I can't have…"

"Weird," Blaine agreed.

"I swear, you remind me so much of Blaine."

Blaine stiffened at the use of his name. It felt so surreal to hear it tumble from Kurt's lips actually in relation to himself. A smile crept across his face.

"I'll take that as a compliment," Blaine said. "So what do you think of this one?" he gestured to an 8-foot tall tree in front of them.

"I think it's…_Blaine_…"

"What?"

"No, over there!" Kurt squeaked. "Blaine's over there! Oh my god, he's coming into the lot. Quick, hide!" he ordered.

"Wait, whe - "

Blaine found himself being pulled into a row of close-knit trees. The pines tickled his nose and he resisted the sudden urge to sneeze. He was a little preoccupied with the fact that Kurt had his arms around him and his lips were about two inches away from his own. Blaine blinked at Kurt, feeling disoriented.

"This is a little cozy for the first date, wouldn't you say?" was his lame attempt at humor.

Kurt shushed him immediately. "Is he nearby? Did he see me?"

"Kurt, he doesn't even know who you are."

That received him a swift slap in the face.

"Sorry," Kurt whispered. "That's a sore spot."

Blaine rubbed his jaw. "_I'm_ going to have a sore spot. Geez, that hurt."

"Hey, you two!" a sharp voice came from the aisle they'd previously occupied. "This tree lot isn't for canoodling, you know. You're bending the branches of that perfectly good Douglas Fir. Either buy it or get out."

"We're going to buy it," Blaine called back. "Could you just give us a moment; I swear we're not – what was that word you used? - _Canoodling?_"

"Nuh uh," Kurt protested. "No way. I'm not going out there while Blaine's still in the tree lot."

"I'll go check if the coast is clear then," Blaine offered. "Just stay here, okay? Oh, and be sure to go find the mean tree lady because apparently we're buying this tree."

Blaine stepped out of the tree branches and looked around for Jeff. He was near the edge of the lot studying a small off-kilter tree. Blaine hurried over to him, looking back over his shoulder to make sure Kurt wasn't watching him.

"_Jeff_," he hissed, grabbing his friend by the arm and attempting to pull him out of sight. "What are you doing here?"

"Blaine!" Jeff exclaimed.

"Shut up," Blaine whispered urgently, putting a hand over Jeff's mouth.

"What are you _doing_ here?" came the muffled question. Blaine released his friend.

"I'm here…looking for a tree, obviously."

"But we're staying in a hotel. You can't put a tree in a hotel."

"It's a long story," Blaine answered him. "What are _you_ doing here is the real question. Aren't you going to be late to picking Kurt up?" He looked over his shoulder to make sure the _real_ Kurt hadn't spotted him yet.

"Yeah, but there was this little shop next door," Jeff jerked his thumb behind him and held up a small shopping bag. "I remembered that you said Kurt was super into Christmas so I got him a little gift to show him that I – I mean _you_ – remembered."

"That's great. That's fantastic. Now please leave," Blaine said.

Jeff gave him a puzzled look. "Are you mad at me, Blaine?" he asked, looking wounded. "Is it this whole Kurt thing? Look, I don't want a dude to come inbetween our friendship. Come here," Jeff said, holding his arms wide open.

"A hug?" Blaine asked. "Right here, right now? I can't do this right now."

"There's no allotted time for friendship," Jeff insisted, putting his arms around Blaine. "Just let it happen, buddy." He squeezed Blaine tightly.

"Look if people see us, they'll think…"

"Let them think, my brother," Jeff replied. "I just wanted to let you know how much I _appreciate_ you," he droned on. "And throughout this whole thing I've barely considered your feelings, but no more. I'm so, so sorry that I got mixed up in this whole situation, but I swear I'll come clean to Kurt…Probably tomorrow night because he asked me to come over to his apartment for dinner...But the how's and where's aren't important."

"Jeff, _let go of me_," Blaine ordered stiffly.

"I know I don't say it a lot..." Jeff continued as he held Blaine at arm's length.

Blaine shook his head. "Don't say it. Please don't say it."

" – but I love you, man. I really do. I should say it more often. But just remember, I love you."

"I love you, too," Blaine said, devoid of emotion. "Will you _leave_ now?"

Jeff held up his hands. "I'm leaving, I'm leaving," he said. "Just remember that."

"I doubt I'll forget it any time soon," Blaine said. "Have fun on your date."

Jeff waved at him one last time before exiting the lot.

Blaine watched him go. He was so distracted by his annoyance that he barely noticed the light coughing behind him. It wasn't until Kurt cleared his throat a little louder that he spun around.

"_Kurt_," Blaine said, eyes wide. "Well, the coast is clear."

"What was that about?" Kurt asked skeptically.

"What was _what_ about?" Blaine replied, playing dumb.

Kurt glared at him. "You know what. You were talking to Blaine. What were you saying?"

"I didn't say anything!" Blaine lied. "It was just so _strange_. He came up to me out of no where and started hugging me. Talking about…good will towards man and happy holidays and all this stuff…"

"What did he say_ exactly_?" Kurt demanded.

"He just came up to me and said straight out, 'God bless us, every one,'" Blaine fibbed. "Weird, right? He's weird."

"That's kind of...sweet, I guess," Kurt relented. "Did he say anything about me?"

"No, not a word," Blaine replied, acting bewildered. "Why? _Should_ he have said something about you?"

"No, no," Kurt hurried to say. "That's okay. Wait, that leads me to my first question…"

"Ask away," Blaine answered, glad to have a change of subject. "That was part of the deal."

"First question: You work for Toys 4 All, right? Because you can't work for Tot's Toys because you didn't even recognize Blaine and he didn't recognize you…"

Blaine nodded. "You got me. I work for Toys 4 All. Alexa Vaisman – she's my boss. You guessed it."

"Great," Kurt said, giving Blaine a satisfied smile. "Now what do you say we tie that tree on top of your car and get out of here?"

"Sounds like a plan."

* * *

><p>"I listen to Christmas music pretty much all year round," Kurt confessed after finishing singing along to a popular tune on the radio. "You can catch me caroling in April."<p>

"There's just something about Christmas music," Blaine agreed.

Kurt fell silent again, staring out of his window with a serious expression.

"Hey, are you okay?" Blaine asked, patting Kurt's knee. "You've been a little quiet – caroling aside – since the whole…" He struggled not to say Jeff's name, "The whole _Blaine_ thing."

"Question number two," Kurt said, completely ignoring the question, "Do you think Paul and Alexa exchange ideas or do you think they just wait to reveal what they feel because they know some things are better left to the imagination?"

"...I'm lost," Blaine admitted. "Are we talking about the article?"

Kurt nodded. "Of course we are. What else would we be talking about?"

Blaine cleared his throat awkwardly and focused back on the road in front of him. "Then, to answer your question, I guess I'd have to say that I think they're as honest with one another as two people can be about their relationship. And, personally, I don't think they'd ever trade their love for a business profit."

"But what about the Wizard of Oz dilemma?" Kurt asked.

"The _what_ dilemma?"

"The Wizard of Oz," Kurt repeated. "What if they build each other up to be this great person, but then they find out in the end – after jeopardizing their businesses and putting it all on the line – that they're really nothing special? That maybe they would benefit from turning their relationship into something lucrative instead of holding out for romance?"

"I think it all goes back to the principle of it all," Blaine replied. "It goes back to 'how much do you really care about this person?' If you can answer without other factors coming into play then I'd say you had the real deal on your hands and it's definitely not worth it to give that up just for a few extra bucks."

Kurt scoffed. "I doubt two of the largest toy companies in the nation would only profit 'a few extra bucks'."

Blaine rolled his eyes. "It's an expression, Kurt."

"I know what it is," Kurt grumbled.

"And you're _sure_ this is strictly for the article?"

"Positive."

They pulled up alongside Kurt's apartment building. "I believe this is your stop," Blaine said. "It's been a pleasure being your chauffeur tonight."

"Well it wasn't a complete waste – you got yourself a Christmas tree."

"You mean we got _you_ a Christmas tree."

"What?" Kurt choked out. "No, no way, Jeff. I'm not going to let you give me that tree."

"It's yours," Blaine insisted. "I'm getting out of the car and taking it up to your apartment and there's nothing you can do to stop me," he said before taking the keys out of the ignition and getting out of the car.

"I won't open the door for you," Kurt threatened.

"You'll follow me," Blaine said with confidence.

Kurt rolled his eyes. "Doubtful. Very doubtful."

"You'll follow me because if you don't, you won't get to ask your last question." Blaine closed the driver's side door.

Kurt scowled momentarily before climbing out of the car.

Fifteen minutes, two flights of stairs, and a trail of pines on the carpet later they were inside of Kurt's apartment setting up the tree in the living room. Of course, Kurt had his tree holder and a festive skirt to go beneath it set up already. They set it up so that the branches they had bent from hiding behind the tree were facing the corner so a person couldn't even tell if they walked into Kurt's apartment.

"There, it's all set up," Blaine said, stepping back to admire his handwork. "Ah, sorry about the pine bristles everywhere," he apologized, adding to the mess by brushing his jacket off. "I'll help you clean up if you'd like."

"No, it's okay," Kurt told him. "I needed to vacuum today anyways."

"I wish I could stay and help you decorate it," Blaine mused aloud. "I bet you have the best ornament collection around."

"Well…" Kurt trailed off with a grin.

"Oh, your third question," Blaine remembered. "What is it?"

"Third question…" Kurt thought to himself. "Got it: Would you…go Christmas shopping with me tomorrow?"

"Christmas shopping?" Blaine repeated.

"Yeah, you know. It's when people go to the mall or outlet stores to buy overpriced gifts for their friends and family to exchange around the twenty-fourth or twenty-fifth of December? It's a huge market, I'm surprised you haven't heard of it."

"Ha _ha_," Blaine replied sarcastically. "I _know_ what it is, I'm just not sure why you're letting me slide with these last two questions."

Kurt shrugged. "I got everything I needed." He and Blaine exchanged small smiles. "So…Christmas shopping. Are you up for it? Maybe you could help me find gifts for my trouble friends?"

"I don't know, I'd have to think about it," Blaine teased, feigning deep thought. He tapped his fingers on his chin and tilted his head to the sign. He wrote numbers in the air as if adding an equation. "I _guess_ I'm free," he relented. Breaking out into a grin, he said, "I'd love to."

"Okay, I can't wait," Kurt replied as he led Blaine to the door. "Thanks for tonight, Jeff," he said shyly. "I had a better time than I expected."

"I don't know if I should take that as a compliment or a back-handed insult," Blaine replied with a laugh.

"Take it as a compliment," Kurt insisted. "So…tomorrow night then? You'll come pick me up?"

"Sounds like a date," Blaine returned.

Kurt shook his head. "We'll call it a quasi-date. With Blaine still in the picture and that whole situation unresolved…I still feel a bit weird about it."

Blaine's face fell slightly. "It's okay, I totally get it. I'll see you tomorrow then."

"Yeah," Kurt said.

They stood in the doorway awkwardly – not knowing if they should hug or shake hands or do nothing at all. Blaine settled the matter by giving Kurt a small wave before walking back down the hallway, following his trail of pines back down the stairs and all the way to his car.

It felt painfully empty without Kurt there with him.

* * *

><p><em>AN: I swear this is some of the most fun I've had writing. Next chapters coming soon!_

_I must remind you to read carefully __and keep in mind the perspectives as this story goes on! It's complicated, but a lot of fun (:_

_**Please review and spread me some yuletide cheer :D**_


	5. Dangerous Territory

_Each year I ask for many different things__  
><em>_But now I know what my heart wants you to bring__  
><em>_So please just fall in love with me this Christmas__  
><em>_There's nothing else that I will need this Christmas__  
><em>_Won't be wrapped under a tree__  
><em>_I want something that lasts forever__  
><em>_So kiss me on this cold December night_

Jeff was kissing Kurt.

And, oh boy, he didn't want to stop any time soon. They'd said their goodbyes a good fifteen minutes prior, but neither of them had moved from the door to Kurt's apartment. Sure, Kurt had pulled out his keys and was fiddling with them while he and Jeff flirted with one another as the date was dwindling to a close, but those had dropped back into his pockets minutes ago – and they stayed there, completely forgotten.

His breath caught as Kurt grabbed hold of the lapels of his winter coat and pulled him closer. Their chests were crushed together and there wasn't even enough space between them for a needle to drop, but somehow they needed to be closer. Their lips were moving in a silent frenzy, Kurt's teeth grazing against Jeff's bottom lip as he pressed their mouths flush against one another.

Any more contact and Jeff thought he might just go mad - Blaine's feelings be _damned_.

He cupped Kurt's face and shuddered as he felt the brunette's tongue running against his lips. He should've walked away right then, but, oh, that _tongue_. He couldn't resist that tongue and Kurt damn well knew it. He knew if he traced the outline of Jeff's lips with a light-as-feather touch then he'd have the blonde's immediate attention.

And he did. Oh, _did_ he.

Jeff pressed his fingers more tightly against Kurt's cheeks and neck as he parted his lips slightly, tilting his head to give the shorter boy a better angle. Kurt took a step closer and took advantage of Jeff's open mouth, letting his tongue explore the contours of it; pressing against the roof of Jeff's mouth, tangling with his tongue, and sweeping from side to side. Their breathing was turning too harsh for where they stood in the hallway, but neither of them seemed to care.

Jeff thought he'd die when he heard Kurt let out a soft moan into his mouth. It was good; it was much, _much_ too good.

Kurt placed his hands on either side of Jeff's hips, gripping the fabric there. Jeff's heartbeat stuttered when he felt Kurt's hands moving, down, down, down…

Jeff stepped back, putting a good foot of space between them. "I almost forgot," he said quickly, his voice breaking on the last syllable. "I got you a gift."

Kurt looked at him strangely. "You did? You didn't have to do that, Blaine…"

"I wanted to," Jeff interjected. "I just remembered how much you love Christmas…"

"I do?" Kurt said. His eyes went wide. "I _do_. I love it. I'm crazy about it. That's so nice of you to remember."

"Yeah, I thought so," Jeff continued, "So I got you this."

From behind his back, Jeff revealed his gift: a Santa hat covered in silver glitter. The white, fuzzy band was even bejeweled here and there. On the front it had 'Kurt' stitched in thin, silver thread.

"I found this small shop a little ways away," he explained as Kurt turned it over in his hands. "The woman told me she could customize it for me when I was paying for it, so I figured _why not?_ I thought you'd love it." He tried to get a better look at Kurt's face; the other boy had fallen silent. "You _do_ love it, right?"

Kurt recovered himself and gave Jeff a big smile. "Of course I love it. I love Christmas." His tone was kind of forced, but his smile was genuine. He placed the sparkling hat on top of his head, readjusting it so it wouldn't fall off. "How do I look?"

"Great," Jeff answered honestly. "It's perfect. I really hope you like it though. I was just passing by the store and I saw it in the window. I thought of you right away."

"You…thought of me?" Kurt asked tentatively.

Jeff smiled. It was the easiest question he'd ever had to answer. "Of course I was thinking about you. I'm always thinking about you."

Kurt blushed. He touched the hat on his head. "I love it," he said, his voice sincere. "It's the best gift anyone's ever given me."

"So I'll come here to your apartment tomorrow night around six?" Jeff asked.

Kurt gave him a devilish grin. "I plan on making it a _long _evening."

Jeff leaned down towards Kurt – because, honestly, what was _one_ more goodnight kiss in the scheme of things?

* * *

><p>"You're<em> keeping<em> the hat?" Kurt yelled. "How can you even _accept_ that gift? It has _my _name on it, Nick, not yours. Since when is your name Kurt?"

"Since you made me go meet Blaine and got me into this mess!" Nick shot back. He clutched the hat to his chest from where he sat on his couch.

"That should be _mine_," Kurt cried, pointing at the shiny material in Nick's hands. "It's mine. It has my name on it. It came from the man _I'm_ in love with – not you. You don't even _like_ Christmas, Nick! You once told me that you wish New Year's was a month-long celebration that cancelled out Christmas so that all your favorite stores wouldn't be clogged with shoppers from November through December," he accused.

"Yeah well…" Nick faltered for a come back. "Christmas isn't that great of a holiday!"

"I can't believe you," Kurt repeated for the tenth time that night. "You're keeping a hat that celebrates a holiday you don't even care about. It has _my_ name on it!"

"So you've said," Nick retorted. "But Blaine gave it to me and he said he thought of_ me_ when he bought it. Therefore it's rightfully mine."

"Ugh, I can't believe it," Kurt hissed. "I even _saw_ him tonight."

"Saw who?"

"Blaine!" Kurt yelled. "I was in the tree lot picking out a tree and I saw him. He was probably coming from buying you that gift. And what did I do? I hid!" He began pacing back and forth furiously. "I was with Jeff and he went to go make sure the coast was clear and then Blaine talked to him. He could've talked to _me_ but he talked to Jeff instead!"

"Whoa, whoa, back up," Nick demanded. "Who in the hell is Jeff and why were you in a tree lot with him?"

"Jeff's just a…guy I met at the conference. I'm using him for my story." Kurt bit his lip. "No, that sounds bad. I'm not using him. Look, it doesn't matter!" he exclaimed. "Jeff's just a friend and that's that."

"He's _just_ a friend?" Nick repeated. "Is that why your eye is twitching?"

Kurt swore under his breath and covered his betraying eye with a hand. "I'm just stressed out. I twitch when I'm stressed."

"No," Nick said. "You twitch when you're lying. You like this Jeff guy more than you're willing to admit…"

"I do not!" Kurt shot back. "I don't even like him. _At all_."

"Show me the eye," Nick ordered.

Kurt turned his back on Nick. "No!"

"Just face it, Kurt," Nick said loudly. "You don't even know how you feel about Blaine and now you're off 'making friends' with this Jeff person? Isn't that a little bit messed up?"

"Look who's talking!" Kurt said, spinning back around. "You've deluded yourself into thinking that Blaine actually gives a crap about you when _I'm_ the one he really cares about."

"You know, I've kissed him more than once," Nick blurted. He covered his hand with his mouth. "I'm sorry, Kurt. But I'm admitting right here and now that I might be in deeper than I anticipated. I asked you to take the second date but you wouldn't and now I don't know what to do…"

Kurt shook his head and walked over to Nick's window, looking out to the darkened streets. "I'm not going to tell him, Nick."

"_What?_" Nick shifted on the couch. "Kurt, you _hav_e to. He's leaving at the end of the week. If you don't do it now, you'll never do it. Then he'll go back to where he came from thinking he spent this entire vacation with _you_. Are you willing to let that happen?"

"I'm not telling him," Kurt repeated. "_Ever._ End of story. I've made up my mind."

And with that, he stormed out of Nick's apartment, slamming the door shut behind him.

* * *

><p>"I'm screwed," Blaine moaned as he sank down on the edge of his hotel mattress. "God, I've never messed up more in my entire life – and that's saying something."<p>

"You have to tell Kurt the truth," Jeff told him. "I can't keep faking this for you. I mean, I _can_," he corrected himself. "And I _will_, but I don't want to feel like I'm stealing your man here."

"No, that's not the problem," Blaine clarified. "You just keep doing what you're doing, that's fine. The real problem is I can't tell Kurt who I am."

"I thought that's what we were just talking about…" Jeff said.

Blaine ran his fingers through his hair. "No. I mean, I can't tell him because of the _article_."

"What article?"

"He's writing an article about this 'affair' – as he calls it – between Mr. Richardson and the Ms. Vaisman, the president of our rival company. He's been interviewing me. I can't tell him who I am or I risk losing my job. I mean, I'm _crazy_ about Kurt, but I can't lose my job over this."

"You're right," Jeff agreed. "You're absolutely right."

"I just can't," Blaine repeated helplessly. "My dad helped me get this job, but you know how he feels about me now. He won't help me out again and if I lose this chance, he'll have all the other big businesses blacklist my name permanently. Everything I've been working for – gone."

Jeff hung his head and sighed deeply. "I don't know what to tell you…"

"It's my fault," Blaine groaned. "If I hadn't practically _handed_ him the story I could've come clean to him already."

Jeff's head snapped up. "That's it," he realized. "You just wait until the article is published, you go find Kurt, and you tell him the truth."

Blaine laughed to himself. Jeff honestly thought he was with the real Kurt, but he was still trying to help Blaine anyways. He always knew he'd picked a good friend when it came to Jeff.

"Just forget it, I'll figure it out."

* * *

><p>"You're early," Nick said, leaning against the doorframe. "We agreed on six. It's only…" He looked at his watch for confirmation, "Ten minutes 'til five."<p>

Blaine smirked down at him, flicking his signature blonde bangs to the side. "I know, but I was a little…eager."

"Is that so?" Nick replied. "Well you're more than welcome to come inside. Unless you want to stand in the hallway for an hour, that is."

"That wouldn't be so bad if you were there with me," Blaine said, quirking an eyebrow.

"Yeah, save it for dessert," Nick said.

That made Blaine's eyes go wide for sure.

* * *

><p>Kurt looked at the clock in his kitchen. It was five thirty, which meant that there was still a good half-hour before Blaine would be getting to Nick's.<p>

After their fight last night, Nick had called him and begged him to come over before his date with Blaine so they could make up (and so that he could test-drive the recipe he was going to use with Blaine on Kurt first, but he didn't mention that until the end of the phone call).

Kurt had only agreed on the grounds that he should make sure Nick wasn't going to kill Blaine with an inedible dish or any surprise food allergies – well, surprise to Nick since Kurt knew all of Blaine's food allergies.

Kurt pocketed his phone and headed towards the door. He paused in the living room to sniff the fresh pine of the Christmas tree, smiling as he thought of Jeff. He double-checked to make sure he had his apartment key before heading out and locking the door behind him. He headed up the flight of stairs to the next landing where Nick would be waiting for him.

* * *

><p>Nick didn't know how he'd gotten to this point.<p>

One second he was cooking – honestly, he was. He was setting the timer on the oven and tossing a salad. That's what he'd been doing when Blaine snuck up behind him and started kissing his neck. That would explain the spilt greens on the kitchen floor...

But at this point he didn't care. He really didn't care. _Why_ didn't he care? It could be due to the fact that Blaine had pushed him up against the island and was hoisting him on top of it. I could've been partially attributed to how Blaine's hands were resting on his thighs, rubbing and roaming as his own hands tangled in Blaine's blonde hair.

Their lips were a whole other story – hungry, dominating, rough. Blaine moaned as Nick nipped at his upper lip, dragging it into his mouth and sucking on it, pulling him forward by grabbing his shirt. Nick wrapped his legs around Blaine's and scooted back on the island to make room for him. Blaine chuckled as he put his knee on the island and pushed himself up so that they're both lying on top of it, Blaine straddling Nick.

Nick rested his head against the cool wood as Blaine went to work on his heated skin, kissing his jaw down to his neck. Nick eagerly helped him by setting his fingers to his own shirt, unbuttoning the front as Blaine pushed his collar aside and settled in on the spot just between his shoulder and his throat. Nick was panting within second, his breath hitching as he feels Blaine's tongue hitting his skin and his teeth sinking in on the sensitive areas. He clutched Blaine's blonde hair, pressing his knee up against Blaine's hips and groping at his back.

Blaine's mouth moved up his neck and to his ear. Nick fought to suppress a moan as Blaine's teeth found his lobe, gently nibbling on it before running his tongue along the outline. God, Nick never knew that could feel good, but it _did_ - so much that his hips twitched involuntarily as his fingernails dug into Blaine's shirt. A gasp escaped his mouth as Blaine drew his earlobe into his mouth, the wet noises increasing tenfold, causing him to grip the other man more firmly.

He was working on the zip of Blaine's pants when suddenly there was a knocking at the door.

Nick pushed Blaine off of him and scrambled to sit upright.

"Ow!" Blaine exclaimed as he hit the floor. He recovered quickly and stood up, readjusting his jeans and ruffling his hair. "Who's that?"

"Oh, it must be my neighbor…" Nick replied hazily, not realizing he had to button up his shirt again.

"I'll get it," Blaine volunteered, jogging over to the front door.

"Blaine, no!" Nick called. But it was too late.

* * *

><p>Kurt tapped his foot impatiently before knocking for the third time. He rolled his eyes. Typical Nick: asking him to come over at a certain time and still not capable of answering the door in a timely fashion.<p>

He crossed his arms and leaned against the door frame, facing the stairs by which he came. He didn't even bother turning around when he heard the door opening.

"_Finally,_" he said in exasperation. "Could you _possibly_ take any longer to answer the door? Honestly, Ni - "

He'd turned around and saw someone who decidedly _wasn't_ Nick standing in the doorway. In fact, he looked alarmingly like the Blaine Anderson that he'd been writing back and forth to for years. That mussed blonde hair, those dark brown eyes, that confident grin. Oh yeah, it was definitely him. And his appearance was slightly haggard.

"You're not Nick," Kurt whispered. He desperately hoped his eye wouldn't start twitching.

"Hi," Blaine said brightly, holding out his hand. "I'm J-…Blaine."

Kurt stared down at his hand, dumbfounded. He expected Kurt to _touch_ him? Just like that?

There was an awkward silence as Blaine retracted his hand and ran it through his blonde hair as if he meant to do that all along.

"Um…I don't know who Nick is, but if you're looking for Kurt, this is the right apartment."

Kurt opened and closed his mouth wordlessly. "Of course, yeah, I'm looking for…Kurt."

He felt his eye starting to tremble of its own accord. Being the incredibly smooth person he was, he slapped a hand over his eye and gave Blaine a tight smile paired with a nervous laugh.

"Oh, god. He's _twitching_," he heard Nick say from the other side of Blaine.

Sure enough, he stepped around Blaine, to face Kurt, a blush coloring his cheek. There was an awkward tension in the air as the three stood there, unsure of what to say.

"Oh, Blaine," Nick said with a small smile, "This is my neighbor…_Nick_. Yeah, that's his name. I forgot that I had called to ask him over – just for a moment."

"Can I talk to _you_ for a moment, _Kurt_?" Kurt hissed, his hand still plastered over his eye. "Downstairs," he clarified.

"Sure, sure," Nick agreed. "I'll be right back," he told Blaine. "Make yourself at home."

Blaine shrugged and headed back into the apartment. Nick closed the door behind him and followed Kurt as he stormed downstairs.

Kurt stopped short when he saw a familiar face standing in front of his own door – Jeff. Jeff with his dark curly hair and deep hazel eyes and that smile that was to die for – the one he was giving Kurt right at that moment.

"Kurt," he said, sounding genuinely happy to see him. "I know I'm a little early, but I thought there'd be more traffic and – surprise – there wasn't." He laughed to himself. "I just knocked on your door and you didn't answer so I was just waiting here…" He trailed off awkwardly.

Kurt nodded. He looked over his shoulder and saw Nick shooting Blaine a dirty look, as if he were judging him.

"Jeff, this is Nick," Kurt said, making the mandatory introductions. "I was just going to talk to him about something…But when we're done, you and I can get going."

"So, this is _Jeff_," Nick said icily, giving him a tight smile. "I've heard a little bit about you from Kurt here." He patted Kurt on the back a little more roughly than was called for.

"Only good things, I hope," Blaine answered in his usual charming manner.

"Yeah."

Another awkward silence.

"Oh, before I forget," Blaine recalled, reaching into his pocket. "You forgot your scarf in my car last night, Kurt." He held the neatly folded square out to Kurt. "I figured you'd be missing it in this weather."

"Yeah, thanks," Kurt replied, taking the scarf and running his fingers along the soft fabric. "I'll be needing it."

He couldn't think of what to say next, so he fell silent.

"So…" Blaine started, nodding to himself. "I guess I'll wait outside?" he asked, jerking his thumb towards the direction of the street. "Take your time," he told Kurt kindly before walking towards the staircase to go back to the entrance.

* * *

><p>"You like him," Nick said. He said it as if it were a fact. "<em>You like Jeff.<em>"

Blaine stopped on the stairs, hoping to hear where this conversation was going. There was a long silence before Kurt's answer and Blaine's heard was pounding in anticipation. What would he say?

"No," Kurt said with a laugh. "No, I don't. I love _Blaine_."

Blaine grinned to himself. Even hearing _that_ was a relief.

"Like hell you do," Nick scoffed. "You come over to my apartment last night to yell at me and make me feel guilty about dating Blaine for you – which was still _your idea_, need I remind you – and then I start to believe it." He laughed humorlessly. "And all the while you're going on dates with Jeff."

"I'm not going on a date with Jeff!" Kurt exclaimed. "We're two people – two_ friends_ – doing some Christmas shopping together. Is that not allowed?"

"Sounds like a date to me," Nick retorted.

"Yeah, you're one to talk," Kurt said sharply. "You're the one who's got Blaine up in his apartment doing God knows what."

"We're having _dinner_," Nick informed him.

Kurt snorted. "Is that why your salad is in your _hair_? Or why you _missed a button_?"

There was a tense silence.

"That's not the point," Nick said softly.

Blaine had to strain to hear Kurt's voice. "Isn't it?"

"You have feelings for Jeff - "

"I don't."

"And the sooner you can admit it, the better off you'll be."

"It doesn't matter what I feel for Jeff!" Kurt exclaimed. "What matters is that I still love Blaine more. He's _mine_, Nick."

Blaine smiled to himself before heading the rest of the way down the stairs. He'd heard all he needed to know.

There was a spring in his step that wasn't there a moment ago.

* * *

><p>"Why can't you admit that Blaine is having a good time with <em>me<em>?" Nick asked. There was hurt in his eyes. "Not you, _me_." He shook his head.

"I don't know what you want me to say," Kurt replied helplessly. "He's not yours to have."

"Yeah, well maybe he should be," Nick blurted. "You think things can just go back to normal after this conference, but they can't, Kurt. You're messing with people's lives here and it isn't fair."

"I'm not doing anything!" Kurt retorted. "I'm just trying to make it through this week."

Nick looked down at his own shoes. "I'm falling for him," he admitted quietly. "Blaine," he clarified. "I'm falling in love with him."

"You can't…" Kurt said in horror. "Nick, you can't do this."

"No, _you_ can't string two people along at once," Nick shot back angrily. "You can't have Jeff for the week and then just go back to sending Blaine lovesick emails and letters."

"I'm not stringing two people along…"

"Think what you want, Kurt," Nick said. "But you have a decision to make. And you'd better make it fast before things get worse."

He turned around and hurried back up the stairs without giving Kurt so much as a backwards glance.

He wanted to tear his hair out, he was so frustrated. He turned around and kicked his own door, leaving a scuff mark on the bottom.

As if things could get any worse.


	6. Quite the Tradition

Blaine was leaning against his car when Kurt finally came out of the apartment building. He looked extremely upset, but the second he spotted Blaine he lit up like a Christmas tree. Blaine grinned back and opened the passenger door for him.

"You chariot awaits," he said in his best classy accent.

Kurt gave him a small bow. "Why thank you, sir," he replied, playing along.

He got into the car and Blaine closed the door behind him before coming around to take the driver's side.

"You okay?" he asked Kurt as he pulled out of the tight parking spot. "You looked a little…bothered."

Kurt shrugged. "Just the usual drama," he said. "You know, how my best friend – or ex-best friend, I don't know anymore – is dating the person I've been in love with for years because I asked him to and now it's backfiring on me," he said sarcastically. "The usual."

Blaine chuckled. "The usual," he agreed.

"It's just…" Kurt sank back in his seat, defeated. "My friendship with Nick. We've been best friends for so long. And now it's all gone to hell in a matter of _days_." He shook his head. "I thought we were stronger than that. But in the end, we're falling out over a _guy_." He snorted. "Over all the things to lose a friendship over, that has to be, by far, the dumbest one."

"It's a complicated situation," Blaine comforted him. "I'm sure it'll be fine."

Kurt snorted again. "Yeah, and how would that happen?"

"You'd be surprised," Blaine told him.

"You're so weird, Jeff," Kurt muttered.

* * *

><p>"Who says you can't do your Christmas shopping a week before Christmas?" Kurt asked Blaine happily.<p>

They'd been at the mall for about half an hour and already Kurt was brandishing three full bags. He hadn't been exaggerating when he wrote to Blaine and told him he was a shopping whiz.

"The real question is do I buy Nick a gift or not?" he mused aloud.

Blaine laughed. "Well, you see, that could spark a philosophical debate."

"It _could_," Kurt agreed. "But let's just think about the potential scenarios, shall we? If I give Nick a gift it says 'Hey, thanks for stealing the love of my life and doing dirty things with him every night. I appreciate your discretion.'"

"Very true," Blaine agreed.

"But then again what if we make up?" Kurt asked. "What if by next week we're on good terms again, but I was so mad that I didn't buy him a gift? Then I'll really be up a chocolate river without a popsicle stick."

He and Blaine shared a good laugh over that one.

"I'll get him something," Kurt decided after they'd calmed down a bit. "And if we're still fighting I'll either keep it for myself or return it."

"That's actually a good idea," Blaine conceded. "But just make sure you actually buy it with Nick in mind so you won't be _too_ disappointed if you actually have to give it to him."

"Touché."

Twenty minutes later and they found themselves in one of those huge linen stores – the ones that seemed to go on and on and on without any end in sight.

"Do you think it's possible to get lost in here?" Blaine asked Kurt.

"I don't know," Kurt admitted. "I think I might be turned around already. Which way is the entrance again?"

"Is there an app for this?" Blaine asked, pretending to fiddle with his phone.

"Oh no, we'll never get out!" Kurt said in mock horror. "We'll be stuck with home furnishings until the end of time."

"At least we'll have 700 ply Egyptian cotton sheets to lie down on," Blaine pointed out, turning a pack of them around in his hands.

"And this hideously tacky throw pillow," Kurt added, gesturing to an overly-decorated Christmas themed pillow.

They both cringed when they found out it lit up.

"We'll get by with our collection of frames," Blaine said as they walked towards that section of the store.

"And when those fail we'll have to fend for ourselves using itchy welcome mats," Kurt said, holding one up.

"But wait! Don't forget our handy dandy set of hand soap holders," Blaine told him. "This one glows in the dark."

"They really have thought of everything," Kurt said, feigning awe. "I think we're ready for the apocalypse."

"Oh, without a doubt," Blaine agreed.

"Finally!" Kurt exclaimed in relief as they entered the kitchen section. "Nick's gift is here – I can feel it," he said.

"Is Nick a chef?" Blaine asked, acting as if he didn't know the answer.

"Oh God, no," Kurt laughed. "He's a _disaster_ in the kitchen." He shook his head in affection for his friend. "He's been taking cooking classes lately."

"That sounds fun," Blaine commented.

"I think it's a little out there," Kurt confided in him. "I mean, they're at the local community college and they're _free_."

"_The horror_," Blaine replied sarcastically. "But that's a good thing," he pointed out. "Isn't it?"

"At first glance, yes. But the only teacher who volunteered to teach without pay is this notorious hippy."

"_Kurt_," Blaine reprimanded.

"What? That was me being _polite_," Kurt protested. "He tells all the students to endorse feng shui in their kitchens – align their chakras and all that."

"A little bit of spirituality never hurt anyone," Blaine told him.

Kurt rolled his eyes. "He tells them to close their eyes and _feel_ the ingredients, Jeff. What does that even _mean_ – _'feel the ingredients'?_ Every time Nick uses that technique, I always end up going home and hurling whatever I choked down."

"Unorthodox teachings can be good sometimes," Blaine insisted.

"That's how Nick and I really bonded, you know," Kurt told him. "I would take dinner over to his dorm every night. Either that or invite him over. You can't help but become best friends with someone after that," he said.

"Well now he can pay you back with a few meals," Blaine said, observing a stainless steel pot.

"I'd rather he didn't," Kurt joked. "No, I mean I'd _really_ rather he didn't." He turned over a green pair of oven mitts in his hand.

"How would Nick feel about a Crock-pot?" Blaine asked, looking over the selection. "Look, if you buy this one, you even get a mini one free."

"What a stunning offer," Kurt replied sarcastically. But he came over anyways, to look. "Actually, this might be the perfect thing…"

"No kitchen is complete without one."

"Well Nick's kitchen doesn't have anything – that's the problem," Kurt said. "But maybe if I got him this, he could leave things to cook while he was in class that way I wouldn't have to eat any more raw things." He shuddered. "There has been blood," he recalled.

"It's the thought that counts," Blaine said.

"I think I will," Kurt agreed, bending down to retrieve a box from the shelf. "After all, if he doesn't use it, I always could."

"That's the spirit."

* * *

><p>"What's in the bag?" Kurt asked Blaine, sounding extremely suspicious.<p>

"It's a surprise," Blaine said. "That's why it's in the bag. Most people call them 'gifts', but I can see how you'd be confused."

"Shut up," Kurt said, taking the bag tentatively. "But you didn't have to get me anything. And how'd you do that so quickly?"

"Well I knew what I was looking for, so I just went and got it while you were in line to get your coffee," Blaine said.

"_Our _coffee," Kurt corrected him, handing over a steaming cup. "I got you one too."

Blaine took a sip and sighed contentedly. "Ah, caffeine addiction. The best kind of addiction there is."

"Guilty," Kurt agreed, sipping his own drink.

"So are you going to open it?" Blaine asked, gesturing to the small bag.

"I'm _considering_ it," Kurt replied coyly.

He finally gave in after a minute of Blaine staring him down. He handed him his coffee cup to hold as he rummaged through the bag. He pulled out its contents with a surprised expression.

"_Jeff_," he sighed as he let the crystal ornament dangle from his fingers. "It's…amazing."

Hanging from his finger was an ornate snowflake made completely out of gemstones that deflected glimmers of grey, green, and blue as it twirled. It was a color that seemed very familiar, but he couldn't place it.

"It's the color of your eyes," Blaine told him. "I saw it while we were in the department store and I just thought of you right away. It matches perfectly."

"Wow," Kurt breathed. He couldn't think of what to say, he was so taken aback. "Jeff, you really didn't have to."

"I wanted to," Blaine told him.

"Snowflakes always remind me of - "

"Your mom," Blaine finished for him. "I know."

Kurt did a double take. "Y-you do?"

"Yeah…" Blaine realized his slip up and coughed awkwardly. "It was a lucky guess. They remind me of my mom, too. All moms like snowflakes, I guess."

"_Right_…" Kurt put it back in the bag and grinned at Blaine. "You know, I think you just moved up on my list of favorite people," he informed him.

* * *

><p>"And that was the year I stopped drinking eggnog," Kurt finished.<p>

Jeff laughed. "I'll never think of the yuletide beverage quite the same way," he said.

They were in front of Kurt's apartment building and it was lightly snowing outside. They paused outside of the doors, all of Kurt's bags and boxes on the floor.

"Are you sure you don't need my help?" Jeff asked, eyeing the array of packages. Kurt _had_ gone a little gift-crazy. "That's a lot for one person."

"Haven't you noticed yet?" Kurt asked. "I'm a machine." He attempted to look tough; he failed.

Jeff chuckled. "So I guess you'll have plenty of packages to put under your tree," he commented. "It should be looking more and more festive by the day."

"Don't forget a new ornament to put on the tree," Kurt said with a smile. "Thank you again."

"It was nothing," he replied, shoving his hands into his pocket.

Kurt began twiddling his thumb and looking upwards towards the sky to admire the tiny snowflakes fluttering to the ground. He was going to look back at Jeff when something caught his eye.

"Oh no," he whispered, his eyes wide.

"What's wrong?" Jeff asked. "Did you forget something?"

Kurt didn't answer, his eyes were still fixed on the inanimate offender fixed overhead.

"Mistletoe," he said softly, pointing upwards.

His heart was pounding – from anxiety or excitement, he didn't know. All he knew was that his stomach was twisting and Jeff was looking at him with those shining, hazel eyes and if he were a lesser man, he'd totally take advantage of the cheesy Christmas conditions. But these were icy waters and he wasn't sure what to do.

"It's such a silly tradition, isn't it?" Jeff asked with a grin. But he was leaning a fraction of an inch closer.

"Probably someone's idea of a good joke," Kurt said breathlessly. He took a tentative step forward.

"Yeah, someone's idea of a joke," Jeff repeated quietly. He was close enough to kiss now.

"So I guess we should…"

Jeff muttered, "We should…"

Kurt's eyes were sliding shut and he could feel the other man's warm breath on his cheeks. They closed the distance quickly, Kurt pressing his lips against Jeff's.

It was good. More than good – it was _nice_. Kurt felt warm all over and he felt Jeff's arms wrapping around him. He made no move to protest as he tilted his head and laid a gloved hand on Jeff's arm, squeezing it lightly. His other wound its way into Jeff's dark, curly hair, just holding him there as they continued kissing softly.

Warmth was spreading right down to Kurt's toes, even in the snowy weather. It was everything a first kiss should've been; it was soft, hesitant at first, but gradually growing in strength. It felt sweet, sincere – safe. Kurt's heart was pounding in his chest and he didn't want to stop. He didn't know how long the mistletoe protocol called for a kiss to be, but he didn't want this one to end.

Jeff's hands were on the small of his back, pulling him closer as they continued kissing. Kurt sighed into Jeff's mouth, feeling more content than he'd ever been in his life. He'd have to remember to thank whoever hung up the mistletoe, because honestly this was too good of a kiss to have missed.

Their lips met slowly in one last, lingering kiss of finality. They broke apart and just stood there for a moment, as if wondering what exactly had just happened.

Kurt was the first one to step away and he cleared his throat awkwardly. He had to resist the temptation to dive in for round two.

"So I should be going," he said quickly, bending down to gather up all his packages. "Thanks for the…shopping," he said.

Jeff moved to hold the door open for him as he went inside.

"So I'll call you?" Jeff prompted, sounding unsure.

Kurt stopped in the hallway and turned to face him. "How about you come over tomorrow?" he asked. "I need someone's help to decorate the tree and since Nick and I aren't on speaking terms…"

"I'd love to," Jeff said with a smile. "Tomorrow," he confirmed.

"See you then," Kurt replied shyly.

Jeff shut the door and walked back to his car. Kurt resumed his way up the stairs, struggling slightly with all his packages. He ended up putting them on the landing before his floor and making two trips.

By the time he got everything up to his apartment he was exhausted.

He collapsed onto the couch without even bothering to take his shoes off and buried his face in a pillow.

On one hand, he could honestly say that he'd never actually met Blaine in his life and how could he commit to somebody he'd never even met? Sure, they had a rapport on paper and by email and had told each other everything for years. But he needed more than that, didn't he? He needed somebody who could be there all the time, not just over paper.

Jeff could be that someone. Maybe.

Well, he had the _potential_ to be someone to Kurt at least.

Kurt reflected on the past few days with him. They seemed to easy, so natural – like breathing. He didn't have to worry about what he'd say or what they'd do together because it was such an easy friendship. Of course, there was the small fact that he was going to be using Jeff to get ahead at the paper and that might not go over well, but he'd promised Mr. Graham an article. An article due tomorrow.

Then there was that kiss…

Was it possible to feel betrayal towards someone he'd never properly met? Unless he counted that awkward run-in in the hallway earlier – which he didn't. But was it possible to downplay such as kiss as the one Jeff delivered? The answer was, again, no. He'd felt something, he knew he had.

Maybe Nick was right and he _was_ stringing two people along. Two people who he didn't want to hurt. He couldn't have both, he had to choose one.

But which one?

* * *

><p>"Hummel!" a voice called.<p>

Kurt had his head pressed against the cool wood of his desk and he hadn't planned on getting up any time soon. But he knew if he made Mr. Graham yell again he'd be in serious trouble. Maybe enough trouble to get fired, if he was lucky. No, what was he thinking? He had to get up.

He shuffled down the hall to Mr. Graham's office.

"Hummel," his boss greeted him with a brisk nod. He looked up from his laptop. "You look like hell. Rough night?"

Kurt nodded wearily. "Yeah, I didn't get much sleep," he said as he sank down into his appointed chair. "You needed me, sir?"

Mr. Graham grew solemn. "I thought I'd give you a heads up that that 'exclusive' source of yours isn't so exclusive anymore."

That caught Kurt's attention. "Wait, what do you mean?" he asked, sitting up ramrod straight in his chair.

"I mean Toys 4 All has caught whiff of _someone_ slipping information to a reporter. The only lead they have is that the poor soul's name is Jeff and if the article runs, they'll be firing every person by that name. Even if they're just a mail carrier"

Kurt's mouth fell open in shock. "They can't do that," he said. "Can they?"

"It's well within their jurisdiction how they deal with their disloyal employees," Mr. Graham said with a shrug as he went back to his work. He wasn't even fazed.

Kurt fell silent. He'd stayed up all night completing the first draft of his article and it meant big things for the paper, not to mention himself. This was everything he'd ever dreamed about: getting out of obituaries. He had to show Mr. Graham that he was a hard-hitting reporter, not some scmoe who knew how to spin words about the deceased. He was so close to getting his own real byline that he could practically taste it.

But what about Jeff? Surely working at Toys 4 All was _his_ dream, too. Then there was that kiss…Could Kurt really do that to him?

"Hummel?" Mr. Graham asked. He might've been calling Kurt's name for a while now. "Is there a problem?"

"What?" Kurt asked in a dazed tone. "No, no, there's no problem," he continued in the same monotone. "Thanks for telling me."

"Listen, kid, this is a _good_ thing," his boss told him. "If they're so worried about the leaked information that they're willing to fire the messenger, that means you got a _real_ scoop." He looked enthusiastic. "You should be proud of yourself."

"I am," Kurt deadpanned. "If you don't mind, I think I'm going to get back to it."

"Do me proud, son," Mr. Graham called after him.

Kurt paused halfway out the door to face his boss. "I will."

* * *

><p><em>AN: Oh ho ho, what's going down in the last two chapters? Welp, we're just gonna have to wait and see tomorrow!_

_Eeek, I hope you guys like it so far. This is seriously just way too much fun for me (:_

**_Spread the holiday cheer and review!_**


	7. Making Headlines

Blaine was sitting alone in an elegant café, waiting for Mr. Richardson to show up.

He'd called Blaine last night to ask him if a breakfast meeting would work, so Blaine had rearranged his schedule to _make_ it work. So naturally, he was five minutes early and had saved them a table in a prime spot while his boss was almost twenty minutes late.

He was starting to do things like fake-text people to appear busy, or try to look completely absorbed in his menu when actually he'd probably memorized it already.

Finally, at the thirty minute mark after they'd actually agreed to meet, Mr. Richardson came strolling in, briefcase in hand and cell phone to his ear. He looked like he was having a serious conversation, judging by the expression on his face.

The hostess tried to ask him how many were in his party, but he just pointed over at Blaine, indicating that they were together. Blaine straightened up his suit and put his napkin in his lap as his boss sat himself across the table.

"Yes, yes, I know," Mr. Richardson said into the phone. "I'm about to tell him, yes."

Blaine pretended not to be listening, taking up his menu again and scouring over the many choices as if he hadn't decided what he was going to get half an hour ago. He did his best to feign being completely engrossed in the laminated menu until Mr. Richardson hung up.

"Good morning, Mr. Richardson," Blaine greeted him cordially with a smile. "Is everything alright?"

"What? Oh yes, everything's alright," his boss replied, sounding flustered.

"Did you have something to tell me?" Blaine prompted. When Mr. Richardson gave him a blank look, he explained, "You told someone on the phone that you were about to tell me something. At least I assumed it was me," he clarified with a nervous laugh.

"Right, right," his boss said, growing solemn once more. "Blaine, I need to ask you a question. A very serious question," he simplified.

"Alright," Blaine said, sitting back in his seat. "What can I do for you?"

"Think carefully before you answer, Anderson," Mr. Richardson warned. "Your answer could mean the end of your career if you're not careful."

Blaine sat up straight and frowned. "Okay…" he said, now completely unsure of where this was going.

"Have you or have you _not_ spoken to the press about our company?"

There was a tense pause as Blaine considered his words with extreme caution.

"Not…_intentionally_," he answered stiffly. He could get out of this still with a well-worded lie. "I mean, there were reporters at the conference every day this week, but I assure you, I gave them only platonic answers or said only good things."

Oh god, but what if Kurt printed that article? Blaine had been hoping he wouldn't since it'd been so long since they'd actually discussed it and Kurt barely had any justifiable facts on the matter! Then again, when had that ever stopped any reporter from running a story?

He was starting to panic; his chest tightening and his palms growing sweaty. He took an even breath and wiped his hands on his napkin nonchalantly, keeping up the calm façade. He was starting to get good at this whole deceiving people thing.

"You're sure you didn't let anything…_specific _slip?" Mr. Richardson pressed.

Blaine shook his head, doing his best to look perplexed. "No, nothing," he answered smoothly. "Why, is there a problem?"

"Have you seen today's headlines, Blaine?" his boss prompted.

Blaine's heart was pounding and he felt afraid for his career, which seemed to be hanging by a thread at this point. He managed to make himself shake his head again.

"I must've missed it," he said, snapping his fingers as if in disappointment. "I'll have to pick up a copy on the way back to the hotel."

"I haven't even told you what the headline is," Mr. Richardson said, his eyes gleaming.

"Anything of interest?" Blaine asked, sipping his complimentary glass of water.

"We _are_ the headlines," Mr. Richardson informed him.

Then something brilliant happened: his serious expression melted away into a broad grin as he handed over the newspaper.

"The front page!" he exclaimed happily. "Can you believe it?"

Blaine almost fell over, he was so bewildered. He snatched the paper out of his employer's hand and read the headline:

_Move Over, Santa. A New Toymaker's in Town_

Blaine couldn't help but beam as he read Kurt's byline right beneath it. He was so relieved that he just skimmed the article – which extended a good half page and then was said to continue on another – seeing that it held nothing but good things about both toy companies; honestly, gushing nothing but compliments about the company, its products, its demographics, all the information on the conference and future undertakings. It was overwhelming how…_nice_ it was.

"I don't understand," Blaine spluttered. "What is this?"

"A Christmas miracle," Mr. Richardson said cheerily. "An entire excerpt on the company. Not a word of slander in sight, and nothing about Alexa, me, or our relationship." He reached across the table and patted Blaine on the shoulder. "But I suppose that's because of your excellent looking out, Anderson."

Blaine shook his head in disbelief. "Of course," he agreed. "I'm glad I could help."

But there was something bigger; something more important than whether he kept his job or not. He scanned the article for the word "Jeff" but it wasn't there. Not once.

"This is…_brilliant_," Blaine whispered to himself.

"I'm glad you think so," Mr. Richardson said, looking over his menu and ignoring Blaine. "This is just what we needed – so much free publicity. And Christmas is right around the corner so we'll have plenty to do…"

"No, you don't get it," Blaine said, lowering the paper. "This is _perfect_." He looked over the article again. "He didn't use my name."

"Sorry?" his boss asked, looking extremely confused. "I'm not sure I catch your meaning."

"_He didn't use my name_," Blaine said more clearly. He was saying it aloud for himself, completely ignoring Mr. Richardson's perplexed expression. "He was_ protecting_ me. And not as Blaine, either! As _Jeff_." Blaine pushed back his chair and gathered his things.

"Anderson, are you alright?"

"He likes me as Jeff, which means he likes me as _me_," Blaine explained quickly. "I'm sorry, I have to go, Mr. Richardson. I'll talk to you later."

Without one more word of explanation, he dashed out of the café and back towards his hotel.

* * *

><p>"Hummel!" came the usual call from down the hallway.<p>

Kurt cringed, his fingers poised above the keyboard. He'd been expecting the call, but it still sent a shiver of fear through him. He knew he wouldn't be prepared for what was to come next.

He slowly shoved back his chair and stood up, making sure he looked as presentable as possible. Surely he couldn't be fired if he at least _appeared_ professional, right? Well that was the theory, anyways.

He made the dreaded walk down the hallway to Mr. Graham's office. The short length seemed to stretch on for miles. He received a lot of knowing looks from other reporters, watching him from over their cubicles or from inside their offices. There was a lot of secretive whispering going on as he passed by. It was almost like being in high school again – almost.

Finally arriving to Mr. Graham's office, Kurt didn't say a greeting. He gave a curt nod and sat down in the chair across from Mr. Graham's desk without having to be asked. He waited.

"So…" Mr. Graham began.

He wasn't even looking at his computer today. He'd been waiting for Kurt and now he was staring him down. Kurt was looking pointedly at his own clasped hands, folded neatly in his lap.

"I _trusted_ you, Hummel," his boss continued calmly. "I told you not to bother showing me the first draft of your article and I let you handle everything right up to publication, thinking all along that you had this brilliant story to share."

He leaned back in his chair, which emitted a loud squeaking noise. Kurt tried not to flinch.

"Imagine my surprise, Hummel," he went on to say, "When I wake up in the morning, pick up a copy of my _own_ newspaper and see the front page – a slot I only gave you at the last minute because you _promised_ me an eye-opening exposé, by the way – covered with nonsense fluff about Christmas and toy companies and _good will towards men._"

Kurt accepted this all silently; not nodding, not shaking his head, not making eye contact – just listening. He gritted his teeth as he awaited sentencing.

"Which, if you'll recall, I asked you to write _in the first place_ for a small area in the Calendar section. But now _this_," he hissed, pounding his fist onto the front page of the newspaper, laid out flat on his desk. "What were you _thinking?_" he demanded.

"I just…" Kurt's voice was shaky. He took a breath. "I just didn't want to ruin anyone's Christmas…sir," he lied. "The lead I had…it was false. So I did the best I could."

"The _best_ you could do was a nonplugged page-full of free advertisement to two toy companies," Mr. Graham clarified. "I'm disappointed, Hummel. Honestly, I am."

"I'm sorry, sir," Kurt answered obediently. "It won't happen again."

"Damn right it won't," his boss spat angrily. "And I'll make sure of that."

Kurt held his breath, worst case scenarios running through his mind. The tension was almost too much to bear.

"Let's see what you can do with…classifieds," Mr. Graham said stiffly.

Kurt's heart clenched painfully. "A d-demotion?" he choked out.

"Be thankful it's not more than that," his boss warned.

Kurt nodded, accepting his punishment. Shoulders sagging and eyes fixed pointedly towards the floor, he walked back to his office and shut the door behind him.

He pretended to go back to work, typing diligently. But really his fingers were shaking and he couldn't even see the computer screen as tears blocked his vision.

It was worth it, he told himself over and over again. He did the right thing.

He knew it would hurt, but he'd done it anyways. He just hoped that Jeff, wherever he might be, was grateful.

* * *

><p>"I'm going to tell him," Blaine told Jeff resolutely. "Tonight. I'm going to tell him."<p>

"You're going to tell who what?" Jeff murmured. He was dozing on the couch, watching one of the few, mindless channels the hotel provided.

"Kurt," Blaine clarified. "Tonight. I'm going to tell him I'm me and you're you."

Jeff snorted. "Because _that'll_ go over well." He did his best impression of Blaine, "Oh, hi, Kurt. How are you? Yeah, I just thought I'd let you know that all this time I was masquerading as that completely _awesome_ and _flawless_ guy named Jeff, I was really Blaine. I hope you don't get freaked out by this new piece of information. Come here and let's make sweet love for hours on end – _OW!_"

Blaine had smacked him over the head with his rolled up newspaper. "Cut it out," he said. "I plan for it to come out a little more…eloquently."

"So you've planned what you're going to say then?" Jeff asked, wincing as he rubbed his head.

Blaine's shoulders sagged. "No, I haven't." He plopped down on a nearby armchair. "But I'm going to think of something." He sighed. "I _have_ to do this, Jeff."

"Sure you do," Jeff muttered his agreement.

"I do," Blaine insisted. "He was protecting me…as you!"

"Maybe he just didn't want to run the article," Jeff suggested. "Maybe you just suck so much at giving him the scoop that he didn't have enough facts to string together a pathetic article – _DO NOT HIT ME AGAIN_."

"It _has_ to be tonight," Blaine said with determination. "If I don't do it tonight then soon the week will be over and I'll be flying back home." He rested his chin on his clasped hands. "I'll have missed my one chance."

"Do what you need to do, bro," Jeff said, stretching out on the couch. "Just make sure you do it _after_ our date."

"What?" Blaine asked. Then he remembered that Jeff _still_ thought he was with the real Kurt. "Oh yeah, sure. Do your thing. I've got it all worked out," he lied.

"Good," Jeff said. "I mean, normally I wouldn't ask, but Kurt invited me over for a movie night in and I was kind of looking forward to it and maybe _not_ watching the movie if you know what I…" He trailed off awkwardly. "Um, I mean…I was thinking of having clean, wholesome fun."

Blaine dropped his head into his hands and laughed. "It's fine, Jeff. Do whatever you planned on doing."

Jeff gave him a strange look. "You know, for a guy who's usually so well-put together, you keep saying things that don't make a lot of sense."

"It'll make sense later," Blaine told him. "I promise."

"Whatever," Jeff mumbled. Two seconds later and he was softly snoring.

* * *

><p>Kurt had been on a scavenger hunt all day long. He'd looked all through his apartment to locate each and every single box of holiday decorations that he owned. They were scattered all around, but eventually he found them all.<p>

He'd headed home from work early – he honestly didn't give a damn anymore, he just had to be out of that office – and he'd spend all late morning/afternoon cleaning his apartment and putting up decorations. He went all out: garland, tinsel, lots of baubles, and lots of red, green, silver, and gold.

Immersing himself in the Christmas spirit made him feel significantly better. He'd even put on a mixed CD of nothing but upbeat Christmas music and found himself singing along as if he didn't have a care in the world.

He busied his hands by starting to wrap and a few gifts – those simple ones that came in perfect boxes. Nothing to figure out, just festive paper to fold over it. It brought him a strange sense of calm, sitting on the living room floor surrounded by shreds of shiny paper, scissors, and rolls of tape. He didn't question it, he just continued with his merry work.

He only stopped when he heard the buzzer go off. Disentangling himself from some stubborn ribbon, he stumbled over to the door.

He pressed the button on the wall. "Hello?"

"Kurt, it's me…" There was a scuffling. "…Jeff."

"You're early," Kurt noted.

"I'm _freezing,_" Jeff corrected him. "Can you buzz me in?"

Kurt laughed to himself. "Sure thing. Door's open."

"Whoa," Jeff said as he pushed open the door. "It's like Christmas exploded in here," he commented, fingering the gold tinsel outlining the door.

"It's great, right?" Kurt asked with a smile. "I just love decorating. I had _the_ worst day at work and it makes me feel so much better," he explained as he took Jeff's scarf and coat.

"Any particular reason why it was so awful?" Jeff asked, glancing over at Kurt.

Kurt shrugged. "Not really, no," he lied. He really didn't feel like talking about it just yet. "But you're just in time to help me decorate the tree."

"If I'd been on time, you would've been finished by the time I got here," Jeff joked.

Kurt shrugged guiltily. "I can't help it. Here, let me go get the ornaments."

* * *

><p>Blaine was sitting on Kurt's couch, warming his hands by the fireplace when Kurt finally walked back into the room.<p>

He knew Kurt well enough to know when to drop a subject, so he figured he wouldn't bring up the article for a while. Might as well enjoy himself and Kurt's company and help decorate the tree like he was supposed to.

A small stereo was on the floor next to the Christmas tree, and out of it floated yuletide songs – one after the other. Blaine found himself humming along.

_Merry Christmas darling__  
><em>_We're apart that's true__  
><em>_But I can dream and in my dreams__  
><em>_I'm Christmas-ing with you_

"I love this song," Kurt said dreamily. He sighed as he set down three huge boxes on the floor.

"It's a personal favorite," Blaine agreed.

"It reminds me of Blaine," Kurt told him. His face fell slightly at the thought. "It's sad, but I love it."

Blaine ducked his head, feeling himself blush. He refrained from making a comment, just nodding at Kurt's words before standing up.

"So this is your ornament collection, eh?" he asked. "Mind if I take a look?"

"Please do," Kurt welcomed him. "I'm proud of my little collection." He laughed to himself as he sat down on an armchair, taking one of the boxes from the stack. "You know, it's kind of funny; you live with your parents for so long and you start falling in love with their ornaments and you start picking out your favorite ones. Then you move out and you realize, 'Wait, I can't take these with me. They don't belong to me.'"

"Surely you could take _some_ of them," Blaine teased. "I know I did."

"I might've taken some of my hand-made ones from my school days and a few personal favorites, but that's it. Then I started building my own collection all year round. I was one of those obnoxious people who bought Christmas ornaments every month of the year – especially from places I'd visited."

Blaine had opened one of the boxes and he was rummaging through the neatly packaged ornaments, unwrapping them and setting them on the floor as he went. Some were humorous, cute, endearing. Others were real works of art, glistening and weighing heavy in his hands.

"Wow," he complimented, turning a shiny orb over in his hands. "I'm going to have to bulk up my own collection. I'm guilty of going generic sometimes."

Kurt shook his head sadly. "That, my friend, is the worst crime of all."

Blaine grinned at being called Kurt's friend. "I'm sorry if I've offended you," he joked.

Kurt dramatically placed a hand to his head, as if fainting. "You have. If one does not have a quirky tree, what does one have at all?"

"Symmetry?" Blaine suggested.

Kurt scoffed. "Symmetry is overrated."

"Hard to believe that just came out of your mouth," Blaine said with a grin. "I never thought I'd see the day."

"Christmas is a season for exceptions," Kurt stated. "In what other season can you wear green and red? _At the same time?_"

"Point taken," Blaine amended. "So," he started, gesturing to the wide array of ornaments on the floor. "Where do we start? I assume there's a method to the madness."

"What you call 'madness', I call 'genius'," Kurt sniffed. "And there is, in fact, something you can do for me."

He pranced out of the room and retrieved the bag Blaine had given him at the mall.

"You can hang the first ornament," Kurt said almost shyly.

Their fingertips brushed as he handed over the bag.

"Wh - …Are you sure?" Blaine asked, reaching inside and pulling out the ornament he'd bought.

He knew how big of a deal this was for Kurt. Every Christmas, like clockwork, Blaine would get a letter with the opening sentence reading, "The first ornament has been hung!" Or an email with the subject heading, "Christmas has really begun!" Kurt _lived _for hanging the first ornament. It was his thing.

"It's tradition to hang the newest ornament first," Kurt told him. "Well, tradition for _me_ anyways." He gave Blaine a small smile. "I just…I want you to do it."

"Of course," Blaine hastily agreed. "Of course I will."

He took the ornament over to the tree – which Kurt had already decked with colorful lights – and hung the snowflake right at the front. When he stepped back, he admired how the rainbow of lights shone through it, throwing colors in all directions.

It was perfect.

Kurt came to stand next to him, admiring the glistening ornament for a moment before clapping his hands ceremoniously.

"It's like Christmas has officially started," he mused aloud. "Let's get on with it then."

* * *

><p>Blaine got the feeling that he could listen to Kurt talking for hours and hours and not get bored. Their banter had no limits; he never had to think up a response – they just came to him naturally. He felt like it was a huge success if Kurt laughed at one of his jokes or shot him a smile from the other side of the tree.<p>

There seemed to be a story behind every single ornament they unwrapped and Blaine was more than willing to listen to Kurt regale him.

"One of my friends from work went to Paris over the summer," Kurt told him, a golden replica of the Eiffel Tower twirling from his fingertips. "God, I wanted to kill her, I was _so_ jealous," he recalled. "As compensation for not stowing me away in her luggage, she brought me this."

"I'm sure you'll make it to Paris someday," Blaine assured him as he hung up a bell ornament.

"Oh, I will," Kurt said confidently. "And when I do…" He trailed off, shaking his head as if he couldn't even find the words to describe it.

"I don't know about you," Blaine said, bending over to retrieve another ornament. "But I think this one has the finest craftsmanship."

Kurt looked over and snorted ungracefully. Blaine was holding up an ornament he'd made in the first grade. There was a copious amount of glitter and there were hot glue gun burns. In the middle of it all was a school picture from that year.

"Oh God," Kurt moaned. "It's sentimental, okay?"

"Weren't you a looker?" Blaine teased as he hung it up. "I bet you broke all the little boys' hearts."

"They broke mine," Kurt retorted.

They'd kept a steady rotation around the tree, spreading all the ornaments across the branches evenly; the heaviest getting spots on the thicker branches toward the top and the lighter ones hanging delicately from the bottom. They'd conveniently kept to their own sides for quite a while.

So it was a surprise when they bumped into one another behind the tree – the part that was closet to the corner. There wasn't that much space, so it was a precarious place for two people to be at once.

Kurt tried to step to the left at the same time Blaine did. Wising up, Blaine took a step to the right, but Kurt mimicked his movement exactly. They continued with their awkward, synonymous dance for a while until Blaine grabbed Kurt's shoulders and held him still.

"I'll just…be hanging this," he said, holding up the ornament in his hand. "Just stay still so we don't knock over the tree."

"And ruin all our hard work?" Kurt replied sarcastically. "I would never."

Blaine stood on his tiptoes and reached over Kurt to hang the ornament from one of the higher branches. He hadn't realized that he was still using his other hang to balance on Kurt's shoulder.

But, boy, did he realize when he retracted from the tree. He looked down the bridge of his nose as he righted himself, seeing just how close he was to Kurt. As in dangerously close. If he moved so much as a fraction of an inch, they'd be kissing.

He licked his lips at the thought, still not releasing Kurt's shoulder. Kurt's mouth was open slightly, his eyes looking at Blaine's mouth, then back up to his eyes, then back down again. It was as if he were fighting an internal war with himself. Blaine could see in his eyes what he wanted to do, but instead Kurt just bit his lip and took a step back.

"You picked a prime spot," he told Blaine awkwardly.

It took him a moment to realize Kurt was talking about the ornament he'd just hung.

"What?" Blaine said, coming out of his daze. "Oh, yeah. I guess I did."

Kurt gave him a tight smile before easing his way around Blaine towards the front of the tree. Blaine ran his fingers through his hair, cursing himself for being hidden under the guise of Jeff. It he was just Blaine in that moment, Kurt would've kissed him. He was sure of it.

But he was still Jeff.

He cleared his throat and came out from behind the tree. "So…" He prompted awkwardly. "I saw your article this morning…" He let the statement hang open.

"You did?" Kurt asked, sounding genuinely surprised. "I keep forgetting it was the front page," he admitted with a blush.

"Yeah, it was great," Blaine told him. "Not a word about the _steamy affair_ though…"

"I just…" Kurt looked liked he was fighting back a grin. "I didn't want to ruin anyone's Christmas."

"Bullshit," Blaine called.

Kurt laughed. "I'm serious! I'm a sucker for the season."

"Yeah, but then it seems like you've been keeping me around for a lot of fruitless evenings," Blaine teased.

"I wouldn't say 'fruitless'," Kurt replied coyly. "It hasn't been _that_ much of a waste of time."

"Only a little bit of a waste of time," Blaine razzed back.

Kurt covered his mouth as he laughed. "Right. Only a little bit," he confirmed through giggles.

When they finally had every single ornament up, Kurt looked a little bit disappointed. He held the star in his hands, but he made no move to put it up.

"Something wrong?" Blaine asked uncertainly. "Do you need some help?"

"No, no," Kurt said sadly. "It's just…Nick's always the one who puts up the star, you know? He's done it every year ever since we moved into this building and I always put up his. I don't know why, exactly, but it's just a weird tradition."

Blaine nodded, knowing Kurt's love for Christmas tradition.

"Now we're in this fight and it's all so ridiculous…" Kurt sighed. "It'll just feel so…_wrong_ if I do it myself." He looked over the silver star in his palms, turning it over and over.

"You should go make up with him," Blaine suggested.

Kurt shook his head adamantly. "I'm still mad at him."

"But it's the season for forgiving," Blaine told him. "You said so yourself."

"I never said that."

"You were_ thinking_ it," Blaine said. Kurt stuck his nose in the air. "Come on, you can't be mad at him forever."

"I can _try,_" Kurt replied sourly.

Blaine shook his head. "That's not you – I know it's not. Look, in a few days this…Blaine guy…He's going to go back home and then the only person you have to rely on is Nick."

Kurt's expression softened as he considered Blaine's words. "I don't need his shit cooking," he said quietly.

Blaine laughed. "That's not what I mean and you know it."

"You really think I should?" Kurt asked hesitantly. "I don't know, maybe I should let his squirm a day or two…"

"_Kurt_," Blaine chastised him.

"Fine," the other man decided. "I'm going to do it now or I'm not going to do it at all," he decided.

"I didn't mean _right_ now," Blaine backed up. "What if he's busy right now? Or not at home?"

"I'm Kurt Hummel," the reporter said in his most authoritive voice. "He'll _make_ time for me."

"I don't think that's really a good idea," Blaine called after him. But Kurt was already opening the door to the hallway and his footsteps were on the stairs.

Blaine sank down on the couch, shaking his head. It was at that moment that he remembered who exactly was in Nick's apartment at this very moment… Doing heaven knows what.

"Kurt!" he called, dashing after him. "Wait!"

He'd reached the top of the stairs when he saw Kurt taking out a set of keys from his pockets, muttering about how Nick gave him a spare. Unluckily for him, he had the key jammed in the lock and he was turning it.

Then he was opening the door.

* * *

><p><em>AN: Dun dun duuuuuuun. Stay tuned for more Christmas drama rama_

**_Send me a review and make my day :D_**


	8. December Kisses

They were supposed to be watching a movie.

Honest to God, that's what Nick had planned for. Why did this always happen with him and Blaine during movies? Was it the dimmed lights, the private atmosphere? The way Blaine's hands wandered, starting from the trailers and getting increasingly more suggestive towards the opening credits?

And things were about ten times magnified by the fact that they weren't in a public theater – as if that'd stop them either – but in Nick's apartment. The door was locked, there was no one there to interrupt them, and absolutely no worry about who would see them or not.

Maybe that's how he found himself lying vertically on the couch. Perhaps that's why Blaine was straddling him and sitting back on top of his hips, his blonde hair in his eyes as he bent low and kissed Nick's neck. That could've been why Nick had his fingers tangled in said blonde hair, encouraging the other man as he felt Blaine's tongue hitting the skin of his throat in the best way possible.

He couldn't remember the technicalities of everything. One minute they were sitting next to one another – okay, "sitting" was a strong word. It was more like Blaine's mouth on Nick's ear, kissing and nibbling the lobe as he worked his way downwards – and the next they were on top of one another. Well, Blaine was on top of_ him_, but he wasn't exactly complaining.

He definitely wasn't complaining as Blaine pulled off his t-shirt to continue his trek downwards. Nick reached up and pulled the hem of Blaine's shirt upwards, wanting to desperately free him from the material. He couldn't help but groan as Blaine's torso was revealed; he ran his fingers down it, pausing just above the waistline of his boxers peeping out over his jeans.

Blaine bent down and caught Nick's mouth in a hot, intense kiss. Nick's hands moved to Blaine's back, pulling him down closer so that their bare chests were pressed flush against one another. God, it felt so good – skin on skin. Blaine's tongue ran across Nick's lips until he opened up and allowed him inside of his mouth. He could kiss Blaine like this always: mouths wide open and tongues flicking against one another as their hands roamed into more and more dangerous territory. It felt _so_ good.

His teeth were on Blaine's lip, dragging it into his mouth before he took Blaine's tongue between his lips. Blaine groaned as Nick started sucking it suggestively. He moved his hand southwards and cupped Blaine's crotch in his hand, feeling the hard evidence that he was as turned on as Nick was.

He felt Blaine gasp as he slipped his fingers beneath the line of his boxers. This was new territory, but Nick knew he'd get the feel for it. And, oh, did he want it.

Blaine wasn't exactly objecting to the progression as he pressed his hips downward into Nick's hand, giving him the confidence to go on.

The movie kept playing, completely forgotten.

An hour later and they were close to naked. Blaine's jeans were on the floor, abandoned next to his shirt which was laying right next to Nick's shirt. Nick's own jeans were at his ankles and, God, they were only separated by one layer of clothing each.

Nick was the one on top now, pinning Blaine's hands to the couch as he kissed down his chest, past his stomach, and to even more promising areas. He licked his lips in preparation.

* * *

><p>"Kurt, you r<em>eally<em> don't want to do that," Blaine tried desperately. He was panting and there was an edge of hysteria in his voice, but Kurt ignored him.

"I have the spare key," Kurt reasoned. "If he didn't want me to be able to break and enter into his apartment, he shouldn't have given it to me."

"Look, why don't we just go downstairs and…"

"It'll only take a second, Jeff," Kurt replied in exasperation. "Just wait downstairs for me."

"I'm telling you, Kurt," Blaine tried again. "You don't want to go in there." He was standing right next to Kurt, a hand on his arm.

Kurt put his shoulder to the door as he turned the handle. "And why n - "

He stopped short. His mouth was open in shock and Blaine could only imagine that his own expression was exactly the same. There were no words to describe the scene in front of them.

For one, he was looking at more of Jeff than he'd ever wanted to. Nick's face had been in Jeff's lap – presumably doing only one thing – and there was a wet noise as his lips pulled back that confirmed their suspicions. Jeff gasped and jumped reflexively over the back of the couch and landed with a thud on the floor.

Nick's lips were red and he was sitting in only his boxer briefs, which only made the scene ten times worse.

"_Nick,_" Kurt gasped out. He'd turned pale white, all the blood drained from his face. They keys had dropped from his hands to the floor with a clatter. Blaine could tell he wasn't breathing.

Kurt turned on his heel and ran away.

Blaine stayed, paralyzed in embarrassment for Kurt's best friend and for his own, who was still hiding behind the couch.

"Wait…Who's Nick?" Jeff asked, peeking his head over the couch.

"_That's_ Nick," Blaine explained in exasperation, pointing to the scantily clad brunette male on the couch.

"Hi," Nick mouthed to Jeff, turning almost as red as his lips.

"Nick, this is Jeff," Blaine said, gesturing to Jeff who was resting his elbows on the couch now.

He wasn't as nearly as humiliated as he should've been. In fact, he was giving Nick his patented cocky smile and eyeing him up and down as if really seeing him for the first time.

"Jeff?" Nick asked. "But I thought you were Blaine," he told Jeff.

"Nah, that's Blaine," Jeff said, pointing to Blaine in the doorway.

The lightbulb seemed to go off in Nick's head as a look of comprehension dawned on his face. "Right. So you're really _Jeff,_" he confirmed, facing the blonde, a coy grin on his face.

Blaine watched in amazement as Jeff hopped back onto the couch – fully covered, thankfully – and moved in closer to Nick.

"I'm okay with this if..._you're_ okay with this," he purred, tracing the line of Nick's jaw with his fingertips.

"I'm _more_ than okay with this," Nick murmured. "Are you?"

"I am," Jeff said huskily, closing in for a hungry kiss.

Blaine shook his head as he reached for the door handle. Those two were really going at it and chances were they'd be right back where Kurt and Blaine had walked in at any moment.

"I'll just let you two…" He didn't even bother to finish his sentence as he heard the pair's breathing accelerate. He just shut the door as quickly as he could.

He had to go after Kurt.

* * *

><p>Kurt wasn't in his apartment, but Blaine heard the sound of something shattering outside. He hurried down the steps and found Kurt outside of the building.<p>

There was a tree in front of a nearby shop, not ten feet away, and Kurt was ripping off the tiny glass orbs and throwing them with all his might onto the concrete until they broke. If they just bounced away, he stomped them into dust with his feet. He let out a yell for every jab of his foot.

Blaine could see he was crying because there were tears that were illuminated by the shop's festive lights. So far no one could tell that an angry stranger was defacing their brightly decorated tree.

He ran up to Kurt and stilled his arms, grabbing his wrists to keep him from smashing a particularly big ornament on the ground.

"Kurt," he said. "Kurt, stop it!"

Kurt struggled against him. He released the orb and it bounced harmlessly on the ground, rolling away under a nearby car. He groaned in frustration.

"Let. Me._ Go._" He squirmed under Blaine's grip but Blaine wouldn't release him. "What is it to _you_ if I want to mutilate some public property?" he demanded to know. "I said let go!"

"Look, calm down," Blaine said the calmest voice he could muster. "I can explain if you'll just give me the cha - "

"You can _explain?_" Kurt scoffed. He finally managed to rip his hands out of Blaine's. "You can _explain_ why my ex-best friend is up there in his apartment doing unspeakable things to a man he doesn't even know? To a man who I thought knew _me?_" He threw up his hands and walked back towards his apartment.

"It's a long story," Blaine tried to start.

Kurt just rolled his eyes and waved Blaine away. "I mean what kind of relationship do we _have?_" When Blaine didn't answer him, he spat out, "Blaine and I…We don't have a relationship at all. We don't even have a friendship." He shook his head. "If he thinks I'm writing to him after all this shit, he's even dumber than he looks."

Blaine couldn't help but laugh a little at that, but he stopped when Kurt sent him a frightening death glare. "Kurt if you'll just give me five minutes, I can - "

"Shut up, Jeff!" Kurt shouted. "What do you know about anything? You're just some _guy_ I needed to help me write an article." He grew even more distraught after that. "An article I didn't even publish," he reminded himself. "God, how stupid _am_ I?"

"You're trying to hurt me," Blaine said calmly. "You're trying to push me away, but it's not going to work."

"Your purpose has been served, Jeff," Kurt shot back. "I don't need you here anymore. I was just using you for information."

"That's bullshit, Kurt," Blaine retorted. "And you know it. You didn't publish that article for a reason."

"I didn't want to ruin anyone's Christmas!" Kurt repeated. "Which was dumb because no one takes _my_ goddamn Christmas into consideration apparently."

"You were protecting me," Blaine insisted. "Why can't you just admit it."

"I _wasn't_ protecting you," Kurt told him. Blaine noticed his eye was starting to twitch. "I was protecting my own job."

Blaine stared pointedly at his eye and Kurt slapped a gloved hand over it in attempt to hide it unsuccessfully.

"Okay, that last part's not true, but I _wasn't_ protecting you," he ratified his statement.

"And what does the eye have to say about that?" Blaine asked smugly.

Kurt swore under his breath, keeping his hand where it was. "Nothing, the eye says nothing. It's just a reaction to…stupidity."

"And whose stupidity would that be?" Blaine asked, looking at him disapprovingly.

"I don't know what to do," Kurt said helplessly. "Short of becoming a psychopathic mass murderer and just ending the lives of everyone I know, I don't know what to do."

"Well that's half a good plan anyways," Blaine joked lightly.

Kurt scowled at him. "I'm screwed. I'm royally screwed."

"Do you love him?" Blaine asked abruptly. "This _Blaine_ guy – who sounds like an ass, by the way – do you love him?"

Kurt let a small, choked sob. "How could I _not?_" he asked. "After all we've been through together, how could I not?" He sniffled and wiped away a few fresh tears. "I mean, he was there for me – as a friend – when I needed somebody the most. He saved my life with his letters," he confessed. "How do you just turn your back on someone like that?"

"But you didn't print the article," Blaine prompted.

"No, I didn't write the fucking article," Kurt snapped. "Why do you keep going back to that? I don't want to talk about it!"

"You didn't write the article because you feel it, too."

"Feel what?" Kurt asked. "I don't feel _anything_, Jeff. I feel like a horrible person – end of story."

"You didn't print the article because you have feelings for _me,_" Blaine said softly. Kurt just rolled his eyes and turned his face away. "Come on, why can't just admit it, Kurt? For once in your life, just say it!"

"I don't feel anything for you," Kurt said sadly. "I _can't_ feel anything for you, Jeff. You're just a guy that I've just met and this is _Blaine_ we're talking about here. How do you expect me to choose between the two of you?"

"So you admit there is a choice to be made," Blaine said triumphantly. "And just forget about Blaine, obviously he wasn't even bothered enough to come after you. _I_ did, Kurt. I'm here for you. If you'll just let me _tell _you what I've been trying to say - "

"You don't know what you're _talking_ about. You don't know how much this hurts – seeing somebody you really cared about kicking you to the curb for your best friend." He ran his hand through his hair. "And the worst part is that _I_ did this, Jeff. I freaking sent Blaine those pictures of Nick and I could've set it right the first day he set foot in New York but I panicked and I sent Nick instead. Like a _coward_." He sat down on the bottom-most step. He covered his face with his hands. "Who _does_ something like that?"

Blaine took a deep breath and looked down at his shoes. "Me."

Kurt's head snapped up. His eyes were hard and he didn't look happy at this news. "Are you trying to be _funny_, Jeff? Because that's not funny. _At all_."

"I'm not pulling your leg," Blaine promised. "I did the same exact thing, Kurt. I sent you pictures of my best friend, Jeff because I was so scared that you wouldn't like me." Kurt looked positively murderous, so he babbled on. "Don't hate me, please," he begged. Then I met you and I realized you were you so I figured it'd be the perfect opportunity to spend time with you and not be afraid of what you thought. Because if you thought I was a perfect stranger, I could act like myself and see if you liked me without being afraid of getting hurt." He shook his head at himself. "I know, I know, that sounds so stupid and like the worst plan ever, but it worked, right?"

Kurt's mouth was open – in shock or disgust, Blaine couldn't tell – and he was glaring at Blaine. "Are you trying to say what I think you're trying to say?" was all he asked.

"Look, I'm so sorry, Kurt," Blaine apologized. "But I had to know that you would like me for _me_. And you do. You do, so just…admit it. You liked me as Jeff, which means you liked me as me. It's been me the whole time, Kurt. I wasn't lying."

"Yeah only about your name, who you were…" He ticked off the list on his fingers. "You're right – not a lie in sight there."

"Then there was that stupid article," Blaine ranted. "I wanted to tell you so many times this week, but I was afraid you wouldn't like me or feel the same way. I didn't want to hurt your feelings but…It looks like I screwed up big time."

"Wait, so you're Blaine?" Kurt confirmed. He didn't even wait for Blaine to answer. "I don't believe you."

"Kurt, please listen to me…."

"_No_," Kurt said loudly, standing up. "You listen to _me_. Even if you _are _Blaine, you're a complete, presumptuous jerk. What, you thought you'd just confess this to me and I'd fall into your arms like it changes nothing? It changes _everything._ I don't know anything about you and you _obviously_ don't know anything about me." He laughed humorlessly and hung his head. "This _'relationship'_ is based on nothing but lies. How can we even begin when there's no trust?"

He began to walk up the steps to the door. His hand was on the door handle and he was about to go inside and leave Blaine in the cold.

"Your high school's cheerleading coach used to call you 'Porcelain'," Blaine said. Kurt stopped in his tracks, hand still on the handle. "You're deathly afraid of clowns, needles, gray hairs, and wrinkles – in that order." He thought quickly. "Your favorite movies are musicals, romantic comedies, and you secretly have a stash of fantasy movies under your bed."

Kurt turned around and looked Blaine in the eyes, but he made no move to speak. He crossed his arms as if silently telling Blaine to go on. So he did.

"You can't watch Bambi when you're alone because it reminds you of your mom," Blaine continued. "You think everything looks classier in black and white, your favorite color is cerulean, your first real job outside of your Dad's shop was a waiter at the local Applebee's where your friends always tried to bum free meals off you."

Kurt's jaw was still set as if he didn't believe Blaine and his eyebrows were raised.

"You've been writing for the New York times for almost three years now, faithfully doing obituaries. One time, a particularly distraught woman named Jennifer Wyatt phoned you up and chewed you out for an hour straight because you misspelled her late mother's name three times in one article."

Kurt's expression softened. He blushed and let out a small laugh. "That was one time," he said stubbornly. "And _she_ spelled it wrong in the first place."

There was a moment of silence as Kurt came back down the steps until he was on the last one, just above where Blaine was standing.

"You're wrong though," he told Blaine.

Blaine frowned. "About which part?"

"I write classifieds now," Kurt admitted miserably. He began twiddling a button on Blaine's jacket between his fingers absentmindedly. "The things I go through for you."

"Duly noted," Blaine said with a smile.

"Wait, so are you saying that all this time I've been complaining about Blaine all week, you were listening to me complain about _you?_" he teased.

"Well, it wasn't half bad because half the time it was really Jeff you were complaining about and I kind of agreed of you," Blaine replied. "The things I through for you," he said.

"We're a real mess, aren't we?" Kurt asked. "I don't know if it's such a good idea for us to…" He trailed off awkwardly. "I mean, this is the first _real_ time we're meeting and I wouldn't want to jump into anything."

"Kurt…It has to be me," Blaine told him. "For you it _has_ to me. Because for me…it has to be _you_."

"Is there a handbook for this?" Kurt joked. "'What to do when you meet the love of your life in the wrong order' or something like that?" He blushed at his own words, looking downwards. "I mean, you shouldn't have lied to me, Blaine."

Blaine couldn't help but smile. It was the first time Kurt had called him by his proper name and it did things to his heart to hear it.

"Yeah, well, you lied to me too, Kurt," he replied. "Or should I call you _Nick_ according to the pictures you sent me?"

"I think Kurt works better," the reporter said. "But that's just my opinion." He shrugged as he placed his hands on Blaine's shoulders. "I guess you might be right though."

"I am?" Blaine asked. "That's a surprise."

Kurt shook his head. "It _does_ have to be you."

And with that, he bent down and kissed Blaine.

Blaine was taken by surprise as Kurt's mouth met his, but it only took him a second to catch up. He closed his eyes and really allowed himself to enjoy this moment; this moment when Kurt knew that he was Blaine and was kissing him because he wanted to.

It was like rediscovering one another for the first time. Kurt's lips were familiar, yet pleasantly strange as if they would require hours upon hours of kissing for him to understand every quirk, every nuance. And Blaine was more than willing to find out because Kurt's lips were soft, but insistent, sending tingles through his body every time they moved against his own.

It was gentle and tentative. The cold should've been stinging Blaine's cheeks – he knew it probably was – but he couldn't feel it because Kurt's fingertips were lightly cupping his face, sending warmth radiating through them. His own hands were winding around Kurt's waist, splaying against his back and embracing him.

He could feel Kurt smiling against his lips as their noses brushed one another. Blaine tilted his face back and moved his hands to tug gently at the lapels of Kurt's coat, deepening the kiss. He heard Kurt emit a tiny moan before their lips parted.

"That's one way to say hello, I guess," Kurt said with a grin.

"Hello," Blaine told him.

Kurt's thumb was rubbing the side of Blaine's job as he murmured, "Hello," and went in for another mouth-numbing kiss.

Blaine was the one to pull away when he felt something land on his eyelashes. Chuckling, he pulled back and wiped the snowflakes out of his eyes. Sure enough, Kurt was looking towards the sky and sticking out his tongue to catch a snowflake. They were being coated in fresh, soft white snow.

"Come back here," Blaine told him, grabbing his hand and pulling him off that last step. "I can think of a better use for that." He stretched upwards to press his mouth to Kurt's.

With each touch they grew more and more sure, more and more comfortable in each other's arms. If you asked Blaine, this was the proper way to get reacquainted with someone. He couldn't get enough of Kurt's hands on his face, on his shoulders, in his hair. It was the single best Christmas present he could've ever asked for – and he didn't intend on returning this one with a gift receipt.

When they came up for air, Kurt smacked Blaine in the shoulder.

"Ow!" Blaine exclaimed, rubbing the spot. "What was that for?"

"If you had told me sooner we could've been doing this days ago," Kurt said with a small pout.

"We _were _doing this days ago," Blaine reminded him with a coy smile.

Kurt laughed. "That was different. I thought you were Jeff back then."

"Which is totally an insult to my character, might I add."

"But now you're going to be flying back soon…" Kurt realized sadly.

Blaine frowned, remembering this truth. "I can…extend my trip a little bit," he said. "And I'm sure Jeff would like to spend some more time with Nick…"

Kurt gasped a little in excitement. "You mean we can spend Christmas together?" he asked.

"And then maybe afterward I fly back and spend a little time back home, I can convince Mr. Richardson to let me transfer…"

"Now you're just being cruel," Kurt said, narrowing his eyes.

"Well, he _might've_ been telling me last month that they needed a new head of marketing up here. But I won't accept the job if you don't want me to…"

"_Blaine_," Kurt said in a warning tone.

"Well I can't accept the job if I have nothing to come back to," Blaine teased.

Kurt shook his head. "So I'm nothing now?" he asked sarcastically. He readjusted himself in Blaine's arms. "How quickly things change."

"I'd have to find an apartment and maybe someone to show me the sights…"

"I can do that," Kurt promised. "I'll be the best tour guide there is."

"I bet you will be."

Then all plans of the foreseeable future ceased as he pulled Kurt in for another sweet kiss. He didn't know how long they'd been standing there or how much longer they'd continue standing there because as long as he was with Kurt, it didn't matter where he was – so long as they were together.

Kurt wrapped his arms around Blaine's neck and pressed closer into him.

This was going to be the best Christmas ever.

_They call it the season of giving  
>I'm here, I'm yours for the taking<br>They call it the season of giving  
>I'm here, I'm yours<em>

* * *

><p><em>AN: Christmas sap for all, eeeeeeeek! Honestly, if y'all could see my notes, they'd read a little something like this: "They kiss aahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh *keyboard smashing*". That was a direct transcription, if you'll believe it (Minus the caps lock)._

_It's been so much fun writing this and being able to share it so quickly. I hope you all enjoyed it as much as I did! _

_Happy holidays and lots of love from your loyal author :D_

_**The best Christmas gift is a nice review – no wrapping needed!**_


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